A member of the House of Representatives, Abdussamad Dasuki, has raised concerns over what he described as serious discrepancies between the tax reform Act passed by the National Assembly and the version subsequently gazetted and made available to the public.
Dasuki, who represents Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency of Sokoto State, raised the issue on Wednesday during plenary while speaking on a Point of Privilege under Order Six, Rule Two of the House Rules.
A gazette is an official government publication that formally publishes laws and legal notices after they have been approved by the legislature and signed into law by the president. It serves as an authoritative public record relied upon by government agencies, courts and the general public as evidence of the law in force.
Addressing the House, the lawmaker said the gazetted copy of the tax reform Act currently in circulation does not reflect what lawmakers debated, voted on and passed on the floor of the National Assembly.
“What was passed on the floor is not what is gazetted. Mr speaker, honourable colleagues, I was here, I gave my vote, and it was counted, and I am seeing something completely different,” Dasuki said.
He explained that after the passage of the tax bills, he personally obtained copies of the gazetted legislation from the Ministry of Information and compared them with the votes and proceedings of the House of Representatives, as well as the harmonised version adopted by both chambers of the National Assembly.
“I am calling on Mr speaker to graciously look at what was harmonised, what is in the gazetted copy, and what was passed on this floor,” he said.
Dasuki stressed that the issue was not about moving a substantive motion but about drawing the attention of the House to what he described as a serious breach of the legislative process and the Constitution.
“This is a breach of the constitution and a breach of our laws, and it should not be taken lightly by this honourable house,” he said.
The lawmaker requested that the version of the law passed by the National Assembly, along with the gazetted copy and other relevant legislative documents, be presented before the Committee of the Whole to allow members to scrutinize and compare the texts.
“Mr. Speaker, I will be pleading that all the documents should be brought before the Committee of the Whole, thank you. The whole team should review the gazetted copy and assess what was passed on the floor, so that we can make the relevant amendments. Mr. Speaker, this is a breach of the Constitution.
“This is a breach of our laws, and this should not be taken by this honorable House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker,” he added.
Responding, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, acknowledged the concern and assured members that the matter would be addressed.
The House of Representatives and the Senate passed the tax reform bills in March and May, respectively. President Bola Tinubu signed the bills into law in June.
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