Nigeria’s National Assembly has ordered an immediate review and re-gazetting of the country’s recently published tax reform laws following public backlash and allegations that some provisions in the gazetted versions differ from what lawmakers debated and approved. The move, announced on Friday, December 26, 2025, signals an effort by the legislature to protect the integrity of the lawmaking process and restore public confidence in the nation’s evolving tax framework.
In a statement issued in Abuja, the spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Akin Rotimi, said the leadership of the National Assembly had taken decisive institutional steps to address the controversy. According to him, the Green Chamber, under the leadership of Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, has inaugurated an ad hoc committee to investigate the matter thoroughly.
Rotimi explained that the committee’s mandate is to review the legislative and administrative handling of the tax reform Acts, establish the sequence of events that led to their gazetting, and identify any lapses, irregularities, or possible external interferences that may have occurred in the process. He stressed that the review is designed to safeguard public interest and uphold the credibility of Nigeria’s legislative institutions.
The controversy centres on four major laws that were recently signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and subsequently published in the Federal Government’s Official Gazette. These are the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025; the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025; the Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Act, 2025; and the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025. Public commentary and concerns from within the legislature have questioned whether the versions gazetted accurately reflect the bills passed by both chambers of the National Assembly.
In response, the National Assembly has directed the Clerk to the National Assembly to re-gazette the Acts and issue Certified True Copies of the versions duly passed by both chambers — the House of Representatives and the Senate. Rotimi said this step is intended to clarify the official legislative record and eliminate any confusion about the authentic content of the laws.
According to the statement, the review process is being conducted strictly within the framework of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Acts Authentication Act, the Standing Orders of both chambers, and established parliamentary practice. The House emphasised that the exercise does not imply any admission of wrongdoing by the legislature, nor does it concede any defect in the exercise of its legislative authority.
Rotimi urged Nigerians to allow the institutional processes of the National Assembly to run their course without speculation or conjecture. He noted that the review is purely procedural and administrative, and does not prejudice the powers or actions of any other arm of government, including the executive branch that granted presidential assent to the bills.
The decision follows concerns raised on the floor of the House on December 17, 2025, by Hon. Abdulsammad Dasuki (PDP, Sokoto), who invoked a matter of privilege to draw attention to alleged discrepancies between the gazetted tax laws and the versions passed by lawmakers. Dasuki said his personal review revealed material differences, suggesting that the published laws did not fully reflect what was debated, harmonised, and approved by both chambers.
The leadership of the National Assembly said the review will help establish clarity, preserve the integrity of the legislative process, and ensure that Nigeria’s ambitious tax reforms rest on a sound legal foundation. By ordering a re-gazetting of the laws, lawmakers aim to reassure citizens, investors, and stakeholders that due process remains central to governance, especially at a time when tax policy is critical to revenue mobilisation and economic reform.
Emmanuel Bassey is a Financial Expert that has worked in the Banking and Finance Industry for over 15+ years across different banks in Nigeria
