The Federal Government has reaffirmed that there is only one valid version of the newly enacted tax reform laws, dismissing allegations of post-legislative alterations.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, made this clarification on Monday during an end-of-year press briefing in Abuja. He insisted that the laws assented to by President Bola Tinubu were not modified after passage by the National Assembly.
Idris said the tax reform bills underwent due legislative process, including consultations and debates by lawmakers, before receiving presidential assent. According to him, the government is proceeding with preparations for implementation, stressing that nothing in the laws has been changed.
“The Federal Government is going ahead with the commencement of implementation, noting as changed,” the minister said.
He acknowledged that concerns about alleged discrepancies between the version passed by the National Assembly and the one gazetted had been raised by some lawmakers. However, Idris maintained that the matter falls within the purview of the legislature.
“I think it is important for us to wait for the National Assembly to look at this again to tell us whether there were discrepancies or not,” he said. “As far as the government of Nigeria is concerned, there is only one version of that tax document.”
The controversy followed claims by a member of the House of Representatives, Abdussamad Dasuki, who represents Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency in Sokoto State. Dasuki had alleged that the version of the tax laws passed by lawmakers differed from the one later gazetted and circulated by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Information.
The tax reform laws, signed recently by President Tinubu, are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026. Their passage was marked by stiff opposition in the National Assembly, particularly from some northern lawmakers, who raised concerns over their economic and regional implications.
Tensions heightened after Dasuki claimed that certain provisions contained in the gazetted laws were neither debated nor approved by lawmakers.
The reforms have also drawn criticism from prominent political figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi. Both have called for the suspension of the laws’ implementation pending clarification of the disputed provisions.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, has dismissed claims of secret alterations. He warned that delaying the implementation of the new tax laws beyond January 1 could have negative consequences for the country.
