The Presidency has responded to concerns over Nigeria’s newly signed tax reform laws, with Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, urging the National Assembly to investigate claims of discrepancies in the gazetted versions of the bills.
Speaking on Monday during an interview on Channels Television’s Morning Brief, Oyedele addressed growing calls from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, and various civil society groups for a pause in the implementation of the tax reforms.
The controversy arose after House of Representatives member Abdulsamad Dasuki alleged that the versions of the tax bills passed by lawmakers differed from those later gazetted and made public. Dasuki argued that this violated his legislative rights, claiming the final gazetted laws did not reflect what had been debated and approved.
Oyedele dismissed the circulating reports as misleading, noting that any alleged discrepancies could not be verified without access to the officially certified bills sent by the National Assembly to the President. “Before you can say there is a difference between what was gazetted and what was passed, we don’t even have what was passed. Only the lawmakers can say authoritatively what they sent,” he said.
He added that even members of the executive, including himself, only had access to the versions submitted to President Bola Tinubu for assent. On concerns regarding Section 41(8), which reportedly required a 20 per cent deposit, Oyedele clarified that the provision appeared in the draft gazette but was not part of the final version. “Some documents circulating publicly were prepared before the committee completed its work,” he explained.
Oyedele emphasized that the media reports did not originate from the House committee and urged that the official investigation proceed.
President Tinubu recently signed four major tax reform bills into law—the Nigeria Tax Act, Nigeria Tax Administration Act, Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, and Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act—calling them the most significant overhaul of the country’s tax system in decades. The laws are set to take effect on January 1, 2026.
The Federal Government says the reforms are intended to simplify tax compliance, broaden the tax base, eliminate multiple taxation, and modernize revenue collection across all levels of government.
