The Federal Government has clarified that there is only one official version of the recently enacted tax reform laws. Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, made the statement on Monday in Abuja during the end-of-year news conference.
Rejecting claims that the laws had been amended after passage by the National Assembly, Idris emphasized that the version assented to by President Bola Tinubu remains unchanged.
He explained that the legislation underwent the full legislative process, including consultations and debates in the National Assembly, before receiving presidential approval.
“The Federal Government is moving forward with the commencement of implementation, noting no changes,” Idris said.
The minister also addressed concerns about alleged discrepancies between the version passed by lawmakers and the one officially gazetted. He noted that these issues had been raised in the National Assembly and that the executive would defer to the legislature’s review.
“I think it is important for us to wait for the National Assembly to look at this again to tell us whether there were discrepancies or not,” Idris said.
“This is, at this point, an affair of the National Assembly to which I have no jurisdiction, and I have no authority to speak about. As far as the government of Nigeria is concerned, there’s only one version of that tax document.”
The controversy began after Abdussamad Dasuki, a lawmaker representing Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency in Sokoto State, raised concerns in the House of Representatives about alleged changes to the tax reform laws.
Dasuki claimed that the version passed by the National Assembly differed from the one later gazetted and circulated by the Ministry of Information.
The tax reform laws, signed into law by President Tinubu, are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026. The bills faced strong opposition during legislative debates, particularly from some northern lawmakers concerned about their economic and regional impacts.
The dispute gained further attention after Dasuki alleged that certain provisions in the gazetted laws had not been debated or approved by the National Assembly.
Prominent political figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, have urged a suspension of implementation pending clarification.
Meanwhile, Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, dismissed allegations of secret amendments and warned that delaying the implementation of the new tax laws could have adverse consequences for Nigerians.
