The House of Representatives has set up an ad hoc committee to investigate alleged discrepancies between the tax reform bills passed by the National Assembly and the version of the laws gazetted and currently in circulation within government agencies.
The decision came on Thursday amid growing concerns over claims that the official gazetted copy contains alterations not approved by the legislature.
At the same time, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) called on the Federal Government to further postpone the commencement of the new tax regime by at least six months, beyond the planned January 1, 2026 take-off date. The opposition party said the delay was necessary in light of the alleged illegal alterations and to allow for extensive public sensitisation on the new tax laws.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently signed four landmark tax reform bills into law, describing them as the most comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s tax system in decades. The new laws include the Nigeria Tax Act, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, all operating under the unified Nigeria Revenue Service.
The reforms aim to simplify tax compliance, broaden the tax base, eliminate multiple taxation and modernise revenue collection across federal, state and local governments. A six-month transition period was built into the framework, with full implementation scheduled for January 1, 2026.
However, the reforms have continued to generate mixed reactions nationwide.
On Wednesday, a PDP lawmaker from Sokoto State, Abdussamad Dasuki, raised alarm on the floor of the House over alleged inconsistencies between the bills passed by lawmakers and the version later gazetted by the Federal Government. He warned that the alleged insertions, if confirmed, could render the new tax laws legally defective, as they were not approved by the National Assembly.
At plenary on Thursday, Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, acknowledged the gravity of the allegations and announced the constitution of a seven-member ad hoc committee to probe the matter and report back to the House.
“On the revised tax laws, the House leadership has unanimously agreed that a committee should be set up immediately to look into the matters that were raised and many others,” Abbas said.
He named Mukhtar Betara as chairman of the committee, with Idris Wase, James Faleke, Sada Soli, Igariwey Iduma, Fredrick Agbedi and Babajimi Benson as members.
Dasuki had earlier urged the House to retrieve the gazetted documents and compare them line by line with what lawmakers passed, insisting that any discrepancies amounted to a constitutional breach.
“This is a breach of the Constitution and our laws, and this should not be taken lightly by this Honourable House,” he said.
Reacting on Thursday, the PDP praised Dasuki for what it described as his diligence and courage, while formally demanding that the commencement of the Tax Act be shifted by at least six months to allow for a thorough investigation.
The party warned that the issue must be comprehensively examined and not handled with what it called the administration’s “customary levity” toward serious governance matters.
“Nigerians deserve to know how these insertions and substitutions found their way into the gazetted copy,” the PDP said, warning that the alleged action could erode public trust in parliamentary processes.
The party also cautioned against sweeping the matter under the carpet, linking it to broader concerns about transparency in governance.
Meanwhile, the National Opposition Movement (NOM), a coalition of opposition groups, on Wednesday demanded the immediate suspension of the tax reforms, warning that their implementation would worsen the living conditions of Nigerians.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, NOM spokesperson Chille Igbawua described the reforms as “punitive,” arguing that Nigerians were already grappling with poverty, unemployment and rising living costs.
“You cannot tax hunger. You cannot tax poverty. And you cannot tax people into prosperity,” he said, accusing the Tinubu administration of prioritising elite interests over the welfare of ordinary citizens.
The Federal Government, however, dismissed the criticisms, insisting that the reforms are pro-poor and designed to rebalance Nigeria’s revenue system without hurting vulnerable citizens.
Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs, Tope Fasua, said on Thursday that some individuals were deliberately attempting to undermine the reforms. He spoke during the inauguration of a joint committee involving the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms in Abuja.
“This is a pro-poor policy — one designed to recalibrate the revenue of this country in a way that ensures the poorest Nigerians are not harmed, except positively,” Fasua said.
He stressed that the reforms were not intended to increase the tax burden on small businesses or low-income earners, citing infrastructure development, such as the partial opening of the Brass–Nembe Road, as evidence of the benefits of improved revenue mobilisation.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, said the reforms were meant to ease economic pressure on Nigerians, lamenting that misinformation had continued to fuel public anxiety.
Also speaking, the Director-General of the NOA, Lanre Issa-Onilu, represented by the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, Nura Kobi, said the agency would deploy its communication platforms across all 774 local government areas to address misconceptions surrounding the new tax laws.
He emphasised that while implementation is scheduled for January 1, 2026, effective public communication is critical to the success of the reforms.
“Across the world, public policies rarely fail because they are poorly designed; they fail because they are poorly communicated,” he said. “When the message is not understood, the messenger must return.”
