House Orders Release Of Tax Reform Acts, Counters Alteration Claims

The House of Representatives has directed the immediate release certified true copies (CTCs) of the four tax reform Acts passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The move by the legislative arm aims to allay public concerns over allegations that the laws were altered after passage.

Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, who ordered the release, reassured Nigerians that the National Assembly remains an institution of records, governed by established rules, precedents and verification processes that guarantee the authenticity of every law it enacts.

In a statement issued on Sunday night by the House Spokesman, Mr Akintunde Rotimi, the legislature said the original versions of the Acts, as passed by the National Assembly and assented to by the President, have been made available to the public, while hard copies have been printed and circulated to lawmakers.

According to him, the decision to release the certified copies was taken jointly by Speaker Abbas and the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, following public outcry and reports of purported alterations and the circulation of unauthorised versions of the tax laws.

Rotimi said the intervention underscored the Speaker’s commitment to transparency, legislative integrity and public confidence in the law-making process.

He explained that the controversy came to light after a member of the House observed discrepancies in versions of the tax laws in circulation and raised the matter on the floor under a point of privilege.

The Speaker, he said, promptly ordered an internal verification and directed the immediate public release of the certified Acts to remove doubts and protect the sanctity of the legislative record.

The four Acts released are the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025; the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025; the National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025; and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, 2025.

The House described the laws as the cornerstone of Nigeria’s current tax reform framework, aimed at modernising revenue administration, improving compliance, reducing inefficiencies and strengthening fiscal coordination across the federation.

Rotimi quoted Speaker Abbas as saying that every Bill, amendment and Act of the National Assembly follows a traceable constitutional and parliamentary process, adding that once a law is passed and assented to, its integrity is preserved through certification and legislative custody.

He stressed that the only authentic and authoritative versions of the four tax Acts are those certified and released by the National Assembly, urging the public and stakeholders to disregard any other documents in circulation.

The statement added that the Clerk to the National Assembly has completed the process of aligning the certified Acts with the Federal Government Printing Press to ensure uniformity and accuracy, while hard copies have been distributed to lawmakers and made available to the public.

It also disclosed that the ad-hoc committee chaired by a member, Muktar Aliyu Betara is continuing its work to determine how the unauthorised versions emerged and to recommend measures to prevent a recurrence.

House Orders Release Of Tax Reform Acts, Counters Alteration Claims is first published on The Whistler Newspaper