The House of Representatives Minority Caucus Ad-hoc Committee on Tax Laws, headed by Victor Ogene, has asked for more time to carefully review the new statutes, pointing to early reports that confirm changes were made after President Bola Tinubu signed them into law.
On January 2, the House minority caucus formed a panel to investigate Abdulsamad Dasuki’s claim that the official tax law gazette differs from the version approved by the National Assembly.
A seven-man panel led by Afam Victor Ogene, including Aliyu Garu (Bauchi), Hon. Stanley Adedeji (Oyo), Hon. Ibe Osonwa (Abia), Hon. Marie Ebikake (Bayelsa), Hon. MB Shehu Fagge (Kano), and Hon. Gaza Gbefwi Jonathan (Nasarawa), has submitted preliminary findings confirming alterations to tax laws. The panel noted discrepancies between the gazetted version and the version authorised by parliament.
“Given the anomalies, illegalities, and impunity observed, which clearly undermine the National Assembly’s constitutional powers and democracy, the Committee finds the current evidence sufficient to warrant a deeper investigation. This will ensure accountability for the affront against the legislature. To achieve this, the Committee respectfully requests an extension to conduct a more thorough examination of the matter.
The panel’s findings confirmed Hon. Dasuki’s allegations regarding alterations to the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025, as stated in the House of Representatives, and further noted that “there were three different versions of the documents in circulation, particularly the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025”.
A comparison of the House of Representatives’ certified copies of the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA), 2025, with the gazetted version revealed discrepancies between the Act as passed by the National Assembly and the version previously published.
The panel noted that “Section 29(1): On Reporting Thresholds: While the NASS Certified version provided for a tax compliance reporting threshold of N50 million for individuals and N100 million for companies, the gazetted version lowered the reporting thresholds for individuals to (N25 million from N50 million) and (N100 million from N250 million) for companies”.
“This is a clear case of the Executive undermining legislative powers by illegally altering an already passed law to drag more taxpayers into the net”.
Another alteration was detected in Section 41: Introducing new subsections (8) and (9) prescribing a mandatory 20% Deposit for Appeals: The gazetted version introduced new subsections 41(8) and 41(9), which required taxpayers to deposit 20% of the disputed tax amount as a condition for appealing Tax Appeal Tribunal (TAT) decisions to the High Court. These sections were not in the authentic version passed by NASS.
Also, section 64, which provides for Enforcement and Power of Arrest, was altered. “The gazetted law illegally increased the powers of the tax authority to include the power to arrest individuals suspected of tax violations through law enforcement agencies and allowed for the sale of seized assets without a court order.
Another alteration was detected in “Section 3(1) (b): Definition of Federal Taxes. The NASS Certified version defines Federal taxes as including Income Tax, Petroleum Income Tax, Stamp Duties, and VAT, but the gazetted version excludes Petroleum Income Tax and VAT.
The panel deems this an affront to the National Assembly’s exclusive lawmaking powers.
The provision in Section 39(3) of the Currency of Tax Computation of the Gazetted version requires tax computations for petroleum operations to be in US Dollars, whereas the version passed by the National Assembly dictates that taxes are calculated in the currency of the transaction.
Section 30(1)(d) and 30(3) of the Nigerian Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, concerning National Assembly oversight, are problematic. The authentic version passed by the National Assembly granted it the power to summon, demand reports, and enforce accountability, consistent with its constitutional oversight role. However, the altered gazetted version inexplicably removed the provision requiring quarterly and annual reporting to parliament.
The panel stated that this also disregards and disrespects the National Assembly and the doctrine of checks and balances, which is a bedrock of democracy.
