Alleged alterations: Presidency reacts as Peter Obi, Atiku and others call for suspension of tax laws

The Presidency has dismissed claims that it secretly altered some provisions of the newly enacted tax reform laws, insisting that no changes were made outside the established legal and legislative process.

Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assented to the four tax reform bills in June, ending months of scrutiny and intense debates by lawmakers and Nigerians.

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.

President Tinubu’s government picked January 2026 for the implementation of the laws.

Dasuki raised alarm over alteration in tax law

But a few days back, a lawmaker in the House of Representatives, Abdussamad Dasuki, raised the alarm over some alterations in the law, claiming certain provisions in the gazetted version were different from what was passed by the National Assembly.

A gazette is an official government publication that formally publishes laws and other legal notices after they have been approved by the legislature and signed into law by the president.

The gazette serves as an authoritative public record and is relied on by government agencies, courts and the general public as evidence of the law in force.

Dasuki said the gazetted copy of the law available to Nigerians does not reflect what lawmakers passed.

“What was passed on the floor is not what is gazetted. Mr speaker, honourable colleagues, I was here, I gave my vote, and it was counted, and I am seeing something completely different,” he said.

The lawmaker said he personally obtained copies of the gazetted law from the ministry of information and found that they differed from the versions harmonised and approved by the house.

“I am calling on Mr speaker to graciously look at what was harmonised, what is in the gazetted copy, and what was passed on this floor,” he said.

The legislator warned that the discrepancy amounted to a constitutional breach and urged the house to treat the matter with urgency.

This is a breach of the constitution and a breach of our laws, and it should not be taken lightly by this honourable house,” he said.

Obi, Atiku, others call for suspension of tax law

Following the allegation, opposition leaders like Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President, Peter Obi, the former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), and others, have asked the Federal Government to stop the implementation of the laws.

They argued that an independent probe would help restore public confidence, stressing that transparency and accountability were critical in matters affecting national fiscal policy.

Speaking in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, Atiku called for the suspension of the implementation of the laws pending a thorough investigation into the allegations.

Atiku, who spoke through his media aide, Paul Ibe, said halting implementation would allow for proper scrutiny by lawmakers and the public, and help safeguard the integrity of the legislative process.

“Something is wrong with this country. It is a very serious issue. Something has been appended to the law, and some people have gone ahead to alter it. This is falsification, and it is criminal. The big question is: what else has been doctored? What else has been falsified?

“This is dangerous, and it affirms the state capture the opposition warned about in our joint statement,” the former vice president said.

He also alleged that provisions not originally criminalised were later inserted to target political opponents.

Obi, on his part, described the development as a dangerous escalation from poor governance to outright abuse of the law, warning that the alleged alterations posed a threat to the Constitution.

Warning that public trust in governance was rapidly eroding, Obi argued that citizens could not be compelled to shoulder heavier tax burdens in an atmosphere of opacity.

The former Anambra State governor, in a statement posted on his X handle, described the alleged alteration as not merely an administrative oversight but “a serious matter that strikes at the core of constitutional governance and reveals the extent of our institutional decay.”

“We have transitioned from a Nigeria where budgets are padded to one where laws are forged, changes that impact taxpayers’ rights and, most importantly, access to justice. Even more alarming is the introduction of new enforcement and coercive powers that the House of Representatives never approved.

“These include an outrageous requirement for a mandatory 20 per cent deposit before appeals can be heard in court, asset sales without judicial oversight, and the granting of arrest powers to tax authorities.

“Who made these alterations? All of this must be made public. Nigerians need to understand what was signed, what was passed, and what was formally recorded. We cannot continue to ask citizens to pay more taxes while trust in governance collapses,” Obi said.

The African Democratic Congress, on its part, described the tax reform laws as “draconian”, calling for their immediate suspension to allow the legislature to determine the extent of forgery that might have been inserted, and to take necessary corrective action.

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

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

No evidence of alteration – Presidency

Reacting, the Presidency dismissed the allegations, insisting that there was no evidence that the laws had been altered.

Speaking to PUNCH, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Temitope Ajayi, said no amount of opposition pushback would stop the implementation of the laws in January.

He argued that allegations that the tax documents were altered had not been established by any constituted authority, describing the criticisms as “opposition noise” aimed at creating controversy around government policy.

According to him, the tax laws were enacted through due process and would take full effect from January 1, 2026, with relevant government agencies already mobilised to ensure smooth implementation.

Opposition elements can say whatever they want, even when it is very obvious to every rational person that all they seek to do every time is to pollute the waters and create a toxic environment around policy issues,” Ajayi said.

He stressed that the implementation committee had been working for the past six months and would not be distracted by what he described as attempts to undermine the policy.

Ajayi further said claims of document alteration remained unproven, noting that the actions of an opposition member of the House of Representatives could not invalidate laws that had been duly passed and signed.

He added that the House of Representatives had already set up a committee to examine the allegations, led by the Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, James Faleke.

According to him, the appropriate course of action is to allow the committee to carry out its assignment and present its findings.

The Presidency maintained that the government would proceed with the implementation of the tax laws in line with the established timeline, regardless of opposition criticisms.

Also, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, ruled out any suspension of the implementation of the laws.

He said, “The House of Representatives where this allegation emanated from, has set up a committee to investigate. We would like to wait for the outcome of the investigation before we make any comment. The House is already probing it; we don’t want to say anything that will subvert what they are investigating, whether it is true or not. We want to allow the House to do its work.

“The opposition is talking nonsense; the law has already been passed. The timeline for the implementation is January 1. In fact, the law is already being implemented, and by January 1, it will come fully into effect, so there is no point in demanding the suspension of the implementation. Some elements of the law are already being implemented.”