The House of Representatives has set up a seven-member ad-hoc committee to investigate alleged discrepancies between Nigeria’s gazetted tax laws and the versions passed by the National Assembly.
Tajudeen Abbas, Speaker of the House, announced the composition of the committee during plenary on Thursday.
Read also: Tax laws passed by N’Assembly different from gazzeted version, Rep alleges
The panel is to be chaired by Muktar Betara and includes Idris Wase, representing Plateau State; James Faleke, chairman committee on Finnace; Babajimi Benson, representing Lagos State; Sada Soli, representing Katsina State; Iduma Igariwey, representing Ebonyi State; and Fredrick Agbedi representing Bayelsa State.
According to Abbas, the committee has been mandated to compare the tax reform bills approved by the National Assembly with the officially gazetted copies in circulation, with a view to determining the nature and extent of the alleged inconsistencies.
The move follows a point of privilege raised on Wednesday by Abdussamad Dasuki, who represents Kebbe/Tambuwal federal constituency in Sokoto State. Dasuki claimed that the gazetted versions of the tax laws available to the public did not reflect the harmonised legislation passed by both chambers of parliament.
He told the House that he personally copies of the gazetted laws obtained from the Federal Ministry of Information and found notable differences when compared with the versions approved by the legislature.
Dasuki warned that any divergence between the laws enacted by parliament and the texts formally published by the government amounted to a constitutional breach and risked undermining the credibility of the legislature if left unaddressed.
He urged the Speaker to ensure that all relevant documents, including the harmonised versions of the bills, were subjected to thorough legislative scrutiny.
The House of Representatives passed the tax reform bills in March, while the Senate approved them in May 2025. President Bola Tinubu signed the bills into law in June, and the implementation of the laws are expected to take off January 2025.
