January 23, (THEWILL) — The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has confirmed that some of Nigeria’s recently gazetted tax reform laws were altered after being passed by the National Assembly and assented to by President Bola Tinubu.
This was disclosed in the interim report of the Minority Caucus Ad-hoc Committee on Tax Laws, constituted to investigate discrepancies between the Acts approved by lawmakers and the versions published in the official gazette.
Public concern intensified after Abdulsamad Dasuki (PDP, Sokoto) raised the issue on the floor of the House, citing inconsistencies between the laws passed by parliament and the gazetted versions in circulation.
In a statement dated December 28, 2025, the Minority Caucus vowed to “unconditionally protect the independence of the legislature and our democracy”, warning that any attempt to foist fake laws on Nigerians amounted to an attack on the constitutional role of parliament.
Subsequently, on January 2, 2026, the caucus, led by Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, set up a seven-member fact-finding committee chaired by Afam Victor Ogene, with Aliyu Garu, Stanley Adedeji, Ibe Osonwa, Marie Ebikake, MB Shehu Fagge and Gaza Gbefwi Jonathan as members.
The committee noted that on January 3, 2026, the House spokesman, Akintunde Rotimi, announced that Speaker Abbas Tajudeen had directed the public release of the four tax reform Acts duly signed into law by the President, alongside an internal verification process to restore clarity and protect the integrity of the legislature.
The Acts released were the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025; Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025; National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025; and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, 2025.
According to the committee’s preliminary findings, a comparison of the Certified True Copies with earlier gazetted versions confirmed that alterations were made, particularly to the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025, with at least three different versions in circulation.
Among the major changes identified were reductions in reporting thresholds, the insertion of provisions requiring taxpayers to deposit 20 percent of disputed sums before appealing tribunal decisions, and expanded enforcement powers for tax authorities without court orders.
The committee also reported that oversight provisions empowering the National Assembly to summon officials and demand reports were removed from the National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, describing the changes as violations of checks and balances.
Citing the “anomalies, illegalities and impunity” uncovered, the panel said the findings warranted deeper investigation and has requested an extension of time to conduct a more comprehensive probe, pledging to safeguard the constitutional powers of the National Assembly.
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