The Presidency has rejected allegations of discrepancies in the recently signed tax reform laws, stating that documents circulating in the media are not authentic.
The clarification followed claims by a member of the House of Representatives, Abdulsamad Dasuki, who alleged that the versions of the tax laws gazetted and released to the public were different from those passed by the National Assembly. The lawmaker maintained that his legislative rights had been violated.
In response to the allegation, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi, and several civil society organisations called on the Federal Government to suspend the implementation of the laws.
However, speaking on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Monday, the Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, dismissed the claims, insisting that the documents in circulation were not genuine.
Oyedele explained that there was no basis for comparison between the laws passed by the National Assembly and the gazetted versions, as the officially harmonised bills certified by the Clerk of the National Assembly had not been made public.
According to him, only lawmakers can authoritatively confirm what was transmitted to the President, noting that even members of the tax reform committee do not have access to the certified harmonised versions.
“Before you can say there is a difference between what was gazette and what was passed, we have what has not been gazetted. We don’t have what was passed,” he said.
“The official harmonised bills certified by the clerk, which the National Assembly sent to the President, we don’t have a copy to compare. Only the lawmakers can say authoritatively what we sent.
“It should be the House of Representatives or Senate version. It should be the harmonised version certified by the clerk. Even me, I cannot say that I have it. I only have what was presented to Mr President to sign,” Oyedele said.
He further disclosed that the House of Representatives committee had informed him that it had not met on the matter, adding that the document currently in circulation did not originate from the committee.
Oyedele urged the public to allow the House of Representatives to complete its investigation into the issue.
PUO Reports notes that President Bola Tinubu recently signed four tax reform bills into law.
