Former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately suspend the implementation of the controversial Tax Reform Acts scheduled to take effect in January, following mounting allegations that the laws were altered after their passage by the National Assembly.
Ndume made the appeal in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja amid rising public outrage, protests by opposition politicians, and objections from civil society organisations, including the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), over the integrity of the tax reform process.
According to the Borno South senator, proceeding with the implementation of the laws without first resolving the allegations of forgery and post-passage alterations would create serious legitimacy problems and further erode public trust in the country’s legislative and governance systems.
“With the controversy surrounding it, the President should constitute a team to verify the veracity of the claims and act accordingly,” Ndume said.
He urged President Tinubu to set up a small ad hoc committee to authenticate the versions of the tax laws passed by the National Assembly and investigate claims that the gazetted copy differs from the one transmitted to the President for assent.
Ndume warned that failure to address the controversy could render the laws unenforceable in practice, stressing that no policy can succeed when its legal foundation is in doubt.
“If the matter is not resolved, the controversy will continue. In effect, the tax law will not be implemented, because you cannot build on nothing,” he said.
The former Senate Chief Whip noted that several groups, including civil society organisations, the Arewa community and the Nigerian Bar Association, have all demanded that the Federal Government withdraw the laws and conduct a transparent investigation into the alleged forgery.
He added that the President should get to the root of the allegations while allowing the House of Representatives to carry out its own parallel inquiry into the matter.
Earlier, NBA President, Afam Osigwe (SAN), warned that the ongoing controversy threatens the credibility and integrity of Nigeria’s legislative process, describing the allegations as a direct challenge to constitutional governance.
RELATED TRENDS:
NIN Now Serves as Tax Identification Number for Individual Nigerians — FIRS
Osigwe called for an open and transparent probe to restore public confidence in the National Assembly and the tax reform agenda.
The controversy intensified last week when a member of the House of Representatives, Abdussamad Dasuki, alleged that the version of the tax laws gazetted by the Federal Government was different from the final copy passed by the National Assembly and forwarded to the President for assent
