iDeemlawfulA member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abdulsammad Dasuki (PDP, Sokoto), has sounded the alarm over what he described as inconsistencies between tax laws passed by the National Assembly and the versions later gazetted and released to the public.
Dasuki raised the concern during Wednesday’s plenary, contending that his legislative privileges had been violated because the contents of the gazetted tax laws differed from what lawmakers debated and approved on the floor of the House.
“I am here today because my privilege as a member of this House has been breached,” he said.
He explained that after the passage of the tax bills, he devoted three days to examining the gazetted copies alongside the Votes and Proceedings of the House, as well as the harmonised versions adopted by both chambers of the National Assembly, and discovered discrepancies.
“I was here, I gave my vote and it was counted, and I am seeing something completely different,” Dasuki said, adding that copies of the gazetted laws obtained from the Ministry of Information did not align with the versions approved by both the House and the Senate.
The lawmaker stressed that his intervention was not intended as a motion but as a warning to the House about what he described as a serious breach of legislative procedure and constitutional provisions.
He called on Speaker Tajudeen Abbas to ensure that all relevant documents — including the harmonised bills, Votes and Proceedings from both chambers, and the gazetted copies currently in circulation — are laid before the Committee of the Whole for scrutiny by lawmakers.
“Mr. Speaker, the whole members should see what is in the gazetted copy and compare it with what they passed on the floor so that the necessary amendments can be made. This is a breach of the Constitution and our laws,” Dasuki said.
Speaker Tajudeen Abbas acknowledged the concern and assured the House that appropriate steps would be taken.
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed the tax reform bills in March and May, respectively.
On June 26, 2025, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed four Tax Reform Bills into law. They are the Nigeria Tax Act (NTA), the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA), the Nigeria Revenue Service Act (NRSA) and the Joint Revenue Board Act (JRBA).
The new Acts are designed to comprehensively reform Nigeria’s tax framework with the aim of stimulating economic growth, boosting revenue generation, improving the business climate and strengthening tax administration across all tiers of government.
Under the revised tax laws, the Value Added Tax rate remains at 7.5 per cent, despite earlier proposals to raise it to 12.5 per cent, although the scope of VAT has been expanded.
Basic items such as food, education, healthcare, public transportation, residential rent and exports have been zero-rated in a bid to reduce inflationary pressure.
Revenue allocation has also been restructured, with 30 per cent of VAT proceeds now shared based on consumption rather than contribution, 50 per cent distributed equally among states, and 20 per cent allocated according to population.
