Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, has said the National Assembly has the constitutional power to suspend the planned January 2026 implementation of Nigeria’s tax reform laws.
Oyedele stated this on Monday during Channels Television interview while reacting to allegations that parts of the tax laws passed by the National Assembly were altered in the gazetted copies.
According to Oyedele, even before the allegation of alteration emerged, there had been growing calls from some quarters for the suspension of the tax reforms.
He noted that opposition to the reforms has been driven largely by misinformation and fear rather than the substance of the laws.
The tax reform committee Chairman stressed that any decision to postpone implementation is beyond the remit of the tax reform committee and lies squarely with lawmakers.
“If we even want to postpone the implementation of the law, it has to be the lawmakers. That’s far beyond my pay grade.
“That decision has to be made, and I believe that decision for them will be a function of what their findings from this investigation reveal,” he said.
Oyedele, however, warned that suspending or delaying the reforms would mean maintaining a tax system that disproportionately burdens low-income earners and small businesses.
“So we need to be clear about what we are asking for,” Oyedele said, adding that calls for suspension must be weighed against the economic and social costs of maintaining the status quo.
Oyedele said that even if investigations establish that substantial alterations were made to the laws after passage, those provisions should simply be identified and treated as invalid.
His position, he explained, would be to proceed with implementing the law as passed by the National Assembly, while separately addressing how the disputed provisions were introduced and what corrective actions should follow.
He accused some interests of mobilising unsuspecting Nigerians to oppose reforms that are designed to benefit the wider population by spreading fear and misinformation.
Speaking on what may have led to the alleged discrepancies, Oyedele pointed to systemic weaknesses and heavy reliance on manual processes across the legislative and executive workflow.
Last week, a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abdulsammad Dasuki (PDP, Sokoto), had raised concerns over alleged discrepancies between the newly gazetted tax reform laws and the versions passed by the National Assembly.
According to him, his review of the gazetted copies of the tax laws revealed material differences from what was debated, harmonised, and approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Dasuki said he compared the vote and proceedings of the House, the Senate’s records, and the harmonised versions with the gazetted copies currently in circulation and noticed alterations.
Dasuki said he compared the vote and proceedings of the House, the Senate’s records, and the harmonised versions with the gazetted copies currently in circulation and noticed alterations.
The House promised to investigate the claims, and this has heightened the calls for the suspension of the implementation of the laws billed for January 2026.