The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has called for suspension of the Tax Reform Acts over alleged alteration of some sections in the gazetted version, as opposed to what was passed by the National Assembly.
This came as the two chambers of the National Assembly yesterday, ignored the alteration controversies trailing the tax reform acts, which implementation is scheduled to start on January 1, 2026, and proceeded on Christmas and New Year break that will end on January 27, 2026.
The lawmakers, however, approved the repeal and re-enactment of the 2024 and 2025 budgets. They also approved N43.561 trillion for 2024 and N48.316 trillion for 2025, and extended implementation period of the 2025 Appropriation Bill to March 31, 2026.
This was as the N58 trillion Appropriation Bill for 2026 entered second reading at the Senate.
Last week, a member of the House of Representatives Mr. Abdulsamad Dasuki, raised alarm over alleged differences between the tax laws passed by the National Assembly and the gazetted version.
Following the lawmaker’s disclosure, the NBA, in a statement, yesterday, said the development raises “grave concerns about the integrity, transparency, and credibility of Nigeria’s legislative process” and called for “a comprehensive, open, and transparent investigation be conducted to clarify the circumstances surrounding the enactment of the laws.
“Until these issues are fully examined and resolved, all plans for implementation of the Tax Reform Acts should be immediately suspended,” the NBA said in a statement by its president, Afam Osigwe.
Osigwe said the allegations “strike at the very heart of constitutional governance and call into question the procedural sanctity that must attend law-making in a democratic society.”
The NBA also cautioned that the controversy could have economic implications, noting that such “legal and policy uncertainty of this magnitude have far-reaching consequences.
“It unsettles the business environment, erodes investor confidence, and creates unpredictability for individuals, businesses, and institutions required to comply with the law.”
President Bola Tinubu signed the four tax reform bills in June, ending months of scrutiny and intense debates. The four bills, now laws, were the Nigeria Tax Bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill.
The Federal Government fixed January 1, 2026, for the implementation of the laws, but the move has stirred controversy in the country.
However, chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, has defended the reforms and said the Federal Government was not introducing new laws.
The Federal Government argued these tax laws will transform Nigeria’s fiscal landscape, eliminate burdensome taxes, reduce tax compliance complexities, and foster domestic productivity, among others.