The House of Representatives Minority Caucus has alleged that key provisions of Nigeria’s 2025 tax reform laws were altered after passage by the National Assembly, describing the development as a constitutional breach and a challenge to the authority of the legislature.
The allegation is contained in an interim report released on Friday by the Minority Caucus Ad-hoc Committee on Tax Laws, following a review of the Certified True Copies (CTCs) of the four tax reform Acts and a comparison with earlier gazetted versions circulated to the public.
According to the caucus, the CTCs — which represent the versions passed by the National Assembly and assented to by the President — reveal material discrepancies when set against the gazetted copies, raising concerns about the integrity of the legislative process.
The Acts under review are the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025; the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025; the National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025; and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, 2025. All four laws took effect on Jan. 1, 2026.
Origin of the controversy
The issue first surfaced on Dec. 17, 2025, when a member of the House, Abdulsamad Dasuki (PDP, Sokoto), raised a matter of privilege, alleging that the tax laws as gazetted differed from those passed by the legislature.
Dasuki told the House that after reviewing the gazetted copies alongside the Votes and Proceedings and the harmonised versions approved by both chambers, he discovered notable differences which, he argued, were unconstitutional and legally untenable.
He noted that the tax bills underwent months of debates, public hearings and clause-by-clause consideration before being passed by the House and adopted by the Senate, stressing that any post-assent alteration undermined legislative authority.
The allegation triggered concerns within the National Assembly and among civil society groups, prompting questions over how multiple versions of a law could emerge after presidential assent.
In response, the Minority Caucus vowed in a late December 2025 statement to defend the independence of the legislature, warning that the imposition of altered laws on Nigerians amounted to an attack on democracy.
Findings of the panel
To investigate the claims, the Minority Caucus, led by Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers), constituted a seven-member fact-finding committee chaired by Afam Ogene (LP, Anambra).
The committee reported that there were at least three different versions of some of the laws in circulation, particularly the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025.
Among the discrepancies identified were changes to tax compliance reporting thresholds. While the version passed by the National Assembly set thresholds at ₦50 million for individuals and ₦100 million for companies, the gazetted copy reportedly reduced the threshold for individuals to ₦25 million and altered the corporate threshold to ₦100 million from ₦250 million.
The panel also faulted the inclusion of new subsections requiring a mandatory 20 per cent deposit of disputed tax sums before appeals could be made from the Tax Appeal Tribunal to the High Court, noting that such provisions were absent from the version passed by lawmakers.
Other alleged alterations include expanded enforcement powers allowing tax authorities to arrest defaulters and sell seized assets without court orders; changes to the definition of federal taxes, including the removal of petroleum income tax and VAT; and a provision mandating tax computation for petroleum operations in U.S. dollars rather than in the transaction currency.
The committee further reported that oversight provisions empowering the National Assembly to summon the Nigerian Revenue Service and demand regular reports were removed from the gazetted version of the National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act.
Call for further probe
Citing what it described as “illegalities and impunity,” the committee said the discrepancies warranted a more comprehensive investigation to establish accountability.
It therefore requested an extension of time to deepen its probe, insisting that the matter goes to the heart of legislative authority,
constitutional order and democratic governance in Nigeria.