The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of inserting strange clauses into the tax laws. The party called for their immediate suspension and described the legislation as draconian.

The new laws are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026.

The party said the call follows recent findings that the final version of the law contains substantial forgery of provisions that were not in the original bill passed by the National Assembly.

In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC warned that tampering with a piece of legislation after it had been passed by the National Assembly was an indication that President Tinubu desires to concentrate all powers in himself.

The opposition party demanded the immediate suspension of the tax laws to allow the legislature to determine the extent of the forgery inserted by the Tinubu administration and to take the necessary corrective actions.

The party also calls for a public inquiry to investigate the circumstances surrounding the criminal alterations of a duly passed law, and to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.

The statement said: “The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has reviewed various reports which confirm doubts that the various tax laws which were passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by President Bola Tinubu contain substantial forgery of key provisions that were not in the original law passed by the legislature.

“ADC’s forensic review of the original laws and the gazetted versions has also established beyond all doubts that key accountability provisions had been deleted and new provisions inserted, which granted coercive powers to the Executive in the enforcement of the tax laws without recourse to the court. For example, one of the criminal insertions into the laws grants the government of Bola Tinubu the express power to arrest and take over the property of anyone who does not comply with the tax laws.

“The ADC’s position on the so-called tax reforms has been made clear. We do not support any tax that is more likely to compound the misery and hardship already faced by citizens and businesses. But this issue goes beyond taxation. It speaks to the criminal mindset of a government that has no ethical boundaries, has no regard for democratic institutions and will do anything to pursue its narrow selfish agenda.”

ADC said altering legislation and gazetting it after it has been passed by 469 elected representatives of the Nigerian people was indeed a direct assault on constitutional governance.

“More fundamentally, it is indicative of the totalitarian instincts of a President desirous of concentrating all powers of government to himself, even if it means violating the very constitution from which he derives his authority.

“For avoidance of doubt, under our constitution, only the legislature can make laws. Therefore, any legislation that has not been passed according to the provisions of our constitution cannot stand. To accept that the executive could whimsically insert or remove even a punctuation mark from a piece of legislation after it has been passed by the legislature is to arrogate law-making powers to the executive arm of government. This portends great danger to our democracy.

“The ADC therefore calls for immediate suspension of all the 2025 tax laws that have been signed by President Bola Tinubu to allow for a full legislative review. This is the only reasonable course of action if we must not give the dangerous impression that the principle of separation of powers enshrined in our constitution could be sidestepped by the President.

“We also call for a full investigation and immediate prosecution of any official of government who may be found culpable in the execution of this act of forgery that touches at the very heart of our democracy.”