The Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, has addressed allegations that Nigeria’s newly enacted tax reform laws, set to take effect on January 1, 2026, were secretly altered after passage by the National Assembly.
The controversy emerged after civil society groups, lawmakers, and opposition figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, called for an independent investigation and suspension of the laws’ implementation.
Concerns were raised last week by Abdulsamad Dasuki, a member of the House of Representatives, who alleged discrepancies between the versions of the tax laws passed by the National Assembly and those later gazetted and made public. Dasuki argued that the differences violated legislative rights, insisting that the gazetted versions did not reflect what was debated and approved on the House floor.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Monday, Oyedele dismissed claims circulating in the media as false.
“Before you can say there is a difference between what was gazetted and what was passed, we have what has not been gazetted. We don’t have what was passed,” Oyedele said.
“The official harmonised bills certified by the clerk, which the National Assembly sent to the President, we don’t have a copy to compare. Only the lawmakers can say authoritatively what was sent. It should be the House of Representatives or Senate version. It should be the harmonised version certified by the clerk. Even me, I cannot say that I have it. I only have what was presented to Mr President to sign,” he added.
Oyedele also addressed concerns over Section 41(8), which reportedly required the payment of a 20% deposit. He explained that the provision appeared only in a draft gazette, not the final version, and that media reports on the matter circulated before the relevant committee had met.
According to Oyedele, “What is out there in the media did not come from the committee set up by the House of Representatives. I think we should allow them do the investigation.”
President Bola Tinubu recently signed four tax reform bills into law, which the Federal Government describes as the most significant overhaul of Nigeria’s tax system in decades. The laws include the Nigeria Tax Act, Nigeria Tax Administration Act, Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, and Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act.
The reforms aim to simplify tax compliance, expand the tax base, eliminate overlapping taxes, and modernise revenue collection across federal, state, and local governments, under a single authority—the Nigeria Revenue Service.
