A group of lawmakers in Nigeria’s House of Representatives has raised alarm over alleged post-passage alterations to major tax reform laws signed by President Bola Tinubu, warning that the changes could amount to a constitutional breach and expose the country to legal uncertainty.
The allegations were raised on Wednesday during plenary by Abdussamad Dasuki, a lawmaker from Sokoto State, who invoked a matter of privilege to draw attention to what he described as serious discrepancies between the tax bills passed by the National Assembly and the versions later gazetted by the Federal Government.
According to the lawmakers, provisions contained in the published Acts currently being circulated by the Federal Ministry of Information were never approved by either chamber of parliament. They argue that the changes go beyond clerical corrections and amount to substantive alterations that undermine legislative authority.
A report compiled by the concerned lawmakers claims that a House Select Committee reviewed the discrepancies using forensic comparisons of official parliamentary records and certified copies of the bills. The review reportedly found that multiple provisions were inserted, removed, or modified after passage by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The report alleges that oversight and accountability mechanisms approved during the legislative process were stripped out in the final versions. It further claims that new coercive and fiscal powers appeared in the Acts without legislative approval, including arrest powers, garnishment without court orders, compulsory dollar-based calculations, and mandatory security deposits for tax appeals.
The lawmakers argue that Sections 4 and 58 of the 1999 Constitution clearly vest law-making powers in the National Assembly, leaving no room for executive alteration after passage. They warn that any such changes are unconstitutional, legally void, and vulnerable to judicial invalidation.
Speaking during plenary, Dasuki said lawmakers were being confronted with laws they did not vote for. He told colleagues that after reviewing the gazetted documents alongside parliamentary votes and proceedings from both chambers, he found “something completely different” from what was approved on the floor.
He urged the House leadership to compare the harmonised bills with the gazetted versions and called for the original documents to be reviewed by the Committee of the Whole to correct any irregularities. He described the situation as a direct breach of the Constitution that must not be ignored.
The lawmakers warned that leaving the alleged alterations unaddressed could weaken legislative supremacy, erode parliamentary integrity, and expose Nigeria to litigation risks, regulatory confusion, and declining investor confidence. Among their recommendations were an immediate legislative review and, where necessary, re-enactment of affected provisions through proper parliamentary procedures.
They also called on the House to summon officials responsible for the alleged changes under its investigative powers.
In response, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas assured members that the House leadership would examine the allegations and act in the national interest.
The disputed laws are part of President Tinubu’s sweeping tax reform agenda aimed at boosting revenue and reducing reliance on borrowing ahead of their planned implementation in January 2026.
