The Federal Government has affirmed that there is only one official version of the recently enacted tax reform laws
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, made the declaration on Monday in Abuja during the end-of-year news conference.
Idris rejected claims that the laws had been amended after passage by the National Assembly, emphasizing that the version assented to by President Bola Tinubu remains unchanged.
He noted that the legislation underwent the full legislative process, including consultations and debates in the National Assembly, before receiving presidential approval.
“The Federal Government is moving forward with the commencement of implementation, noting as changed,” Idris said.
Addressing concerns about alleged discrepancies between the version passed by lawmakers and the one officially gazetted, the minister explained that these issues had been raised in the National Assembly. He added that the executive would defer to the legislature’s review.
“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,” Idris said. “This is, at this point, an affair of the National Assembly to which I have no jurisdiction, and I have no authority to speak about. As far as the government of Nigeria is concerned, there’s only one version of that tax document.”
The issue arose after Abdussamad Dasuki, a lawmaker representing Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency in Sokoto State, raised concerns in the House of Representatives about alleged changes to the tax reform laws. Dasuki claimed that the version passed by the National Assembly differed from the one later gazetted and circulated by the Ministry of Information.
According to PUNCH Online, the tax reform laws, which are set to take effect on January 1, 2026, were recently signed into law by President Tinubu. The bills faced strong opposition during legislative debates, particularly from some northern lawmakers concerned about their economic and regional impacts.
The controversy intensified after Dasuki alleged that certain provisions in the gazetted laws had not been debated or approved by the National Assembly. The laws have also drawn criticism from prominent political figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, both of whom have urged a suspension of implementation pending clarification of the disputed sections.
Meanwhile, Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, dismissed allegations of secret amendments and warned of potential consequences for Nigerians if the new tax laws are not implemented from January 1.
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