A member of the House of Representatives, Abdussamad Dasuki, has raised concerns over what he described as alterations to the tax bills passed by both chambers of the National Assembly several months ago.
Speaking during plenary on Tuesday, December 17, Dasuki alleged that certain provisions in the gazetted version of the new tax laws currently in circulation differ from the harmonised version approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives.
He told the House that his legislative privilege had been breached, stressing that lawmakers debated and passed the tax bills on the floor of the chamber. According to him, a careful review of the gazetted copy, alongside the votes and proceedings of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, revealed discrepancies.
“Mr Speaker, Honourable colleagues, what was passed on this floor is not what is gazetted. I was present, I cast my vote, and it was duly counted, yet I am seeing something completely different,” Dasuki said.
He called on the Speaker to examine the harmonised version alongside the gazetted copy, noting that the document currently available to Nigerians through the Ministry of Information does not reflect what was approved by the legislature.
Describing the situation as a constitutional breach, Dasuki urged the House to revisit the original version of the bills. He appealed for all relevant documents to be presented before the Committee of the Whole to allow for necessary corrections, warning that the matter should not be ignored.
In response, Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, assured members that the issue would be thoroughly examined and addressed in the best interest of the nation.
