The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has insisted that Nigeria’s newly enacted tax reform laws were altered after they were passed by the National Assembly and assented to by the President.

The caucus, which listed the alleged alterations, described the development as a serious violation of legislative authority and a threat to democratic governance.

This was disclosed on Friday in an interim report by the Minority Caucus Ad-hoc Committee on Tax Laws, constituted to probe allegations of illegal alterations in the gazetted versions of the tax reform Acts. The Ad-hoc Committee is led by Afam Victor Ogene.

The controversy followed public outrage sparked by a motion raised on the floor of the House by Abdulsamad Dasuki, who alerted lawmakers to discrepancies between the versions of the tax laws passed by the National Assembly and those subsequently circulated to the public.

Ogene recalled that the caucus, on December 28, 2025, condemned any attempt to foist unauthorised laws on Nigerians, vowing to unconditionally protect the independence of the legislature and our democracy.

To get to the root of the matter, he said the caucus, under the leadership of Kingsley Chinda, constituted a seven-member fact-finding committee on January 2, 2026, chaired by him.

The committee was mandated to examine the discrepancies and determine how provisions not approved by lawmakers found their way into the gazetted documents.

The investigation gained further momentum on January 3, 2026, when the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, directed the public release of the four tax reform Acts signed into law by the President.

The Speaker also ordered an internal verification process and the release of the Certified True Copies of the Acts to eliminate doubts, restore public confidence and protect the sanctity of the legislature.

The Clerk of the National Assembly was further instructed to align the certified laws with the Federal Government Printing Press to ensure accuracy, conformity and uniformity, a directive minority caucus committee said underscored the existence of serious procedural anomalies.

The Acts involved are the Nigeria Tax Act, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, the National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, all enacted in 2025.

After comparing the Certified True Copies released by the House with the gazetted versions already in circulation, the committee confirmed that alterations had indeed been made, particularly to the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025.

It found that multiple versions of the same law were in circulation, a situation it described as unprecedented and deeply troubling.

The report noted that key provisions in the gazetted version differed materially from what was passed by the National Assembly.

These included changes to tax reporting thresholds that significantly lowered the income levels required for compliance, the introduction of mandatory financial deposits as a condition for appealing tax disputes, and the expansion of enforcement powers granted to tax authorities, including arrest powers and the disposal of seized assets without court orders.

The committee also observed alterations affecting the definition of federal taxes, as well as provisions mandating the use of foreign currency for certain tax computations – changes it said were never approved by lawmakers.

Similar concerns were raised in respect of the National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, where provisions guaranteeing the National Assembly’s oversight role were reportedly removed in the gazetted version.

The committee described this as a blatant disregard for the doctrine of separation of powers and the system of checks and balances that underpin democratic governance.

Describing the alterations as acts of illegality and institutional overreach, the committee warned that the integrity of the legislative process and public trust in law-making were at stake.

It said the evidence gathered so far justified a more comprehensive probe to establish how the alterations occurred and to ensure accountability for what it termed an affront to the National Assembly.

Among the alterations noticed by the caucus were: “Section 29(1): Reporting Thresholds. While the NASS Certified version provided for a tax compliance reporting threshold of N50 million for individuals and N100 million for companies, the gazetted version lowered the reporting thresholds for individuals to (N25 million from N50 million) and (N100 million from N250 million) for companies.

“This is a clear case of the Executive undermining legislative powers by illegally altering an already passed law to drag more taxpayers into the net.

“Section 41: Introducing new subsections (8) and (9) prescribing a mandatory 20 per cent Deposit for Appeals. The gazetted version introduced new subsections 41(8) and 41(9), which required taxpayers to deposit 20 per cent of the disputed tax amount as a condition for appealing Tax Appeal Tribunal (TAT) decisions to the High Court.

These sections were not in the authentic version passed by NASS.

“Section 64: Enforcement and Power of Arrest. The gazetted law illegally increased the powers of the tax authority to include the power to arrest individuals suspected of tax violations through law enforcement agencies, and allowed for the sale of seized assets without a court order.

“Section 3(1) (b): Definition of Federal Taxes.

While the NASS certified version defines federal taxes to include Income Tax, Petroleum Income Tax, Stamp Duties, and VAT, the gazetted version removed Petroleum Income Tax and VAT from the definition of taxes under the Federal Government’s administration. We consider this an affront to the exclusive powers of the National Assembly to make laws.

“Section 39(3): Currency of Tax Computation. The gazetted Act mandated that tax computations for petroleum operations be made in U.S. Dollars. But in the actual version passed by the National Assembly, it prescribed tax calculations in the currency of the transaction.

“Section 30(1) (d), & 30(3): National Assembly Oversight Provisions. It is observed, with grave concern, that while the authentic version passed by NASS provided that NASS can summon, demand reports or enforce accountability in line with its constitutional role of oversight, the altered gazetted version curiously deleted this provision requiring quarterly and annual reporting to parliament regarding the Nigeria Revenue Services, in total disregard and disrespect of the institution of the National Assembly and the doctrine of checks and balances, an important bedrock of democracy.”

The committee requested additional time to deepen its investigation and submit a final report.