By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, has responded to the controversy surrounding the recently enacted tax reform laws, which are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026, and were allegedly altered secretly after their passage by the National Assembly.
Oyedele, while speaking on Channels Television on Monday, December 22, stated that he only has the copy of the laws presented to President Bola Tinubu to sign.
Describing the reports circulating in the media as false, the fiscal policy expert noted that only lawmakers can tell if there are any alterations, as the executive does not have a copy to compare except what they presented for the president’s assent.
He said: “Before you can say there is a difference between what was gazetted and what was passed, we have what has been gazetted. We don’t have what was passed.
“The official harmonised bills certified by the clerk, which the National Assembly sent to the president, we don’t have a copy to compare. Only the lawmakers can say authoritatively what was sent.
“It should be the House of Representatives or Senate version. It should be the harmonised version certified by the clerk. Even me, I cannot say that I have it. I only have what was presented to the president to sign,” he added.
Recall that last week, a member of the House of Representatives, Abdulsamad Dasuki, alleged that there were discrepancies between the tax laws passed by the National Assembly and the versions later gazetted and made available to the public.
Dasuki argued that the differences amounted to a breach of lawmakers’ legislative rights, insisting that the gazetted versions did not reflect what was debated and approved on the floor of the House.
The claims led to civil society organisations, lawmakers, and individuals demanding an independent probe into the purported discrepancies, with persons like a former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, and the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, calling for the suspension of the laws’ implementation.
Oyedele further said he contacted the House of Representatives committee over a controversial provision, Section 41(8), which reportedly required the payment of a 20 percent deposit.
He also noted that the committee informed him that it had not met on the issue.
“I know that particular provision is not in the final gazette, but it was in the draft gazette. Some people decided that they should write the report of the committee before the committee had met, and it had circulated everywhere.
“What is out there in the media did not come from the committee set up by the House of Representatives. I think we should allow them to do the investigation,” Oyedele added.
President Tinubu recently signed four tax reform bills into law, which are the Nigeria Tax Act, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act.
The Federal Government described the laws as the most significant overhaul of Nigeria’s tax system in decades and will operate under a single authority, the Nigeria Revenue Service.
The reforms, which faced opposition from some federal lawmakers, particularly from the northern part of the country, before their passage, are aimed at simplifying tax compliance, expanding the tax base, eliminating overlapping taxes, and modernising revenue collection across the federal, state, and local governments.
