Olushola Omogbehin
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called for the immediate suspension of the newly enacted Tax Reform Acts due to accusation that what was signed into law differ from what was passed by the National Assembly.
This was revealed in a statement on Tuesday by the NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe (SAN). He said the accusation and counter accusation arising from the passage of the laws raise grave concerns necessitating the need to stop their implementation.
According to NBA, “These developments strike at the very heart of constitutional governance and call into question the procedural sanctity that must attend lawmaking in a democratic society.
“The Nigerian Bar Association considers it imperative that a comprehensive, open and transparent investigation be conducted to clarify the circumstances surrounding the enactment of the laws and to restore public confidence in the legislative process.
“Legal and policy uncertainty of this magnitude has far-reaching consequences. It unsettles the business environment, erodes investor confidence, and creates unpredictability for individuals, businesses, and institutions required to comply with the law.
“Such uncertainty is inimical to economic stability and should have no place in a system governed by the rule of law.
“Nigeria’s constitutional democracy demands that laws, especially those with profound economic and social implications, emerge from processes that are transparent, accountable, and beyond reproach. Anything short of this undermines public trust and weakens the foundation upon which lawful governance rests.”
Earlier, a member of the House of Representatives from Sokoto, Abdussamad Dasuki, raised an alarm that the Gazetted tax laws were different from the version passed by the National Assembly which the House immediately formed a seven-member committee to investigate the allegation raise by the lawmaker.
Already, the implementation of the new tax laws by the Federal Government has been concluded to take effect from January 1, 2026, with the approval of the establishment of the National Tax Policy Implementation Committee (NTPIC).
Sequel to this, many political groups, stakeholders including opposition leaders have appealed to the Federal Government to stop the implementation.
However, the Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, has further defended the reforms, saying that government is not introducing entirely new taxes but restructuring the system to make it more efficient.
