The Senate president, Godswill Akpabio, on Wednesday dismissed claims that Nigeria’s new tax laws were altered after passage, saying the four Acts are “ready and gazetted and signed by the President” and urging senators to take only certified copies from the Clerk.
Akpabio told plenary: “There is no adulteration. So I mean, at this stage now, you can feel bold enough to discard anything that is to the contrary,” and ordered gazetted copies distributed to all senators to avoid confusion.
But the House of Representatives’ Minority Caucus says its fact-finding committee confirmed material changes between the versions debated in the National Assembly and those later gazetted, calling the discrepancies “a breach of the Constitution” and urging a deeper probe.
The panel said “there were three different versions of the documents in circulation,” notably in the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025.
The Speaker and Senate President earlier directed the release of Certified True Copies (CTCs) — documents the leadership says represent the authentic texts passed by lawmakers and assented to by the president — in an effort to settle the dispute.
The House deputy spokesman, Philip Agbese, previously said that the leadership’s actions have “comprehensively addressed” the concerns and that the CTCs “have settled the matter,” though the minority caucus has asked for more time to probe.
