The Nigerian National Assembly has directed its clerk to re-gazette four major tax reform laws, a move aimed at quelling a public and political firestorm over allegations that the versions signed into law and officially published differ from what lawmakers originally passed.
The controversy centers on the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025; the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025; the Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Act, 2025; and the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025.
The issue erupted when Representative Abdussamad Dasuki, a lawmaker from Sokoto, raised an alarm on the floor of the House, claiming there were material differences between the bills passed by parliament and the versions published in the government’s Official Gazette.
One allegation suggests that a provision requiring a court order for tax agents to seize the assets of Nigerians was removed from the final gazetted law, a change lawmakers say they never approved.
The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) also weighed in, warning that such discrepancies, whether intentional or not, could undermine the rule of law, create legal uncertainty, and erode public and investor confidence.
In response, the leadership of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, under Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, has ordered an institutional review to establish the sequence of events and identify any “lapses, irregularities, or external interferences”.
The House of Representatives has formed a seven-member ad hoc committee to investigate the matter.
House spokesperson Akin Rotimi stated that the re-gazetting is a purely “administrative step” intended to “authenticate and accurately reflect the legislative decisions of the National Assembly”.
He stressed that the review does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing or any defect in the legislature’s authority, and urged the public to avoid speculation while the process is ongoing.
