Tax Reform Acts not adulterated – Senate

The Senate on Wednesday dismissed claims that the recently enacted Tax Reform Acts were adulterated, insisting that none of the four laws assented to by President Bola Tinubu had been altered.

The clarification was given by Godswill Akpabio, the President of the Senate, during plenary, as he moved to quell growing controversy triggered by claims from some members of the House of Representatives that provisions in the Acts differed from what lawmakers passed.

Akpabio said contrary to insinuations in some quarters, the bills passed by both Chambers of the National Assembly in May last year and signed into law by the President in June were intact, stressing that the certified true copies in the custody of the National Assembly accurately reflect what was approved.

According to him, the Senate and the House of Representatives are in possession of the same certified versions of the laws, dismissing allegations of post-passage alterations.

He consequently directed Emmanuel Odo, the Clerk of the Senate, to distribute certified copies of the Acts to all senators for scrutiny.

“Copies of the Acts will be made available to all senators by the Clerk of the Senate.

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“The copies of the Acts are totally in compliance with what happened in the two chambers. No adulteration, nothing.

“So, at this stage, you can feel bold enough to discard anything to the contrary, knowing that it is not what the President signed and it does not represent what you passed”, Akpabio said.

The controversy followed concerns raised last week by some House of Representatives members, who alleged that certain provisions in the Tax Reform Acts, particularly relating to tax administration and revenue sharing, did not align with what the Green Chamber debated and passed.

Some lawmakers had called for an investigation, claiming discrepancies between the versions passed by the National Assembly and the copies being circulated publicly, a development that sparked public debate and speculation over legislative integrity.

The House of Representatives Minority Caucus Ad-hoc Committee investigating alleged distortions of the nation’s tax laws last Thursday said that there were indeed illegal alterations in some of the tax reform laws recently passed by the National Assembly and assented to by President Bola Tinubu.

The Committee specifically cited the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025, as a law where the alleged alterations were most prominent.

The Committee disclosed this on Friday in its interim report on discrepancies between the versions of the tax laws passed by the National Assembly and those published in the official gazette.

Recall that on June 26, 2025, President Tinubu signed into law four tax reform bills: the Nigeria Tax Act (NTA), the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA), the Nigeria Revenue Service Act (NRSA), and the Joint Revenue Board Act (JRBA).

The Acts are designed to comprehensively overhaul Nigeria’s tax framework, drive economic growth, increase revenue generation, improve the business environment, and strengthen tax administration across federal, state, and local governments.