Reps Probe Alleged Alteration of Tax Laws as Dasuki Flags Discrepancies in Gazetted Copies

|By Chinwendu Nwani

A member of the House of Representatives, Abdulsammad Dasuki (PDP, Sokoto), on Wednesday raised the alarm over alleged inconsistencies between tax laws passed by the National Assembly and the versions later gazetted and released to the public.

Invoking Order Six, Rule Two of the House Rules, Dasuki rose on a matter of privilege, insisting that his legislative rights had been breached by what he described as discrepancies in the published laws.

The lawmaker said he spent the last three days scrutinising the gazetted copies of the tax laws alongside the House Votes and Proceedings and the harmonised versions approved by both chambers of the National Assembly. According to him, the documents did not tally.

“I was here, I gave my vote and it was counted, and I am seeing something completely different,” Dasuki said.

He disclosed that copies of the gazetted laws obtained from the Ministry of Information differed from what was debated, approved, and passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Dasuki clarified that his intervention was not a formal motion but an effort to draw attention to what he called a serious breach of legislative procedure and constitutional provisions.

He urged the Speaker to ensure that all relevant documents—including the harmonised bills, Votes and Proceedings from both chambers, and the gazetted copies currently in circulation—are presented before the Committee of the Whole for thorough examination by lawmakers.

Warning of the implications, Dasuki said allowing laws that diverge from those duly passed by the National Assembly to enter the public domain would erode the credibility of the legislature and undermine constitutional governance.

“This is a breach of the Constitution and our laws, and it should not be taken lightly by this House,” he said.