The National Assembly has directed the re-gazetting of four controversial tax reform Acts to ensure they accurately reflect the versions passed by both chambers, following widespread public outcry over alleged discrepancies between the legislative texts and the officially published versions.
The affected laws—the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025; Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025; Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Act, 2025; and Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025—were signed by President Bola Tinubu in June 2025 and are slated for implementation on January 1, 2026. The reforms seek to streamline tax administration, broaden the tax base, eliminate multiple taxation, and replace the Federal Inland Revenue Service with a more centralised Nigeria Revenue Service.
The controversy erupted about two weeks ago when House of Representatives member Abdussamad Dasuki (PDP, Sokoto) raised the issue on the floor, claiming material differences between the harmonised bills approved by lawmakers and the gazetted versions. Dasuki alleged that the published laws included provisions not debated or approved, such as enhanced coercive powers for tax officials, including arrest authority and garnishee orders without court approval.
In a statement issued Friday by House Spokesman Akin Rotimi, the leadership—headed by Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker Tajudeen Abbas—described the directive as a "purely administrative step" to authenticate the legislative record. "The leadership of the National Assembly... has directed the Clerk to the National Assembly to re-gazette the Acts and issue Certified True Copies of the versions duly passed by both Chambers," Rotimi said. He emphasised that the action does not imply any defect in the original passage or assent process.
The House has also established a seven-member Ad Hoc Committee, chaired by Hon. Muktar Betara (APC, Borno), to review the sequence of events from harmonisation through assent and gazetting. Rotimi urged Nigerians to "allow the National Assembly’s institutional processes to proceed without speculation or conjecture," assuring transparency and adherence to constitutional procedures.
