Says ”What Has Been Circulating and Widely Reported Is Actually Fake”
Taiwo Oyedele, chairman of the presidential fiscal policy and tax reforms committee, has accused critics of spreading misinformation to create fear and panic aimed at stopping the implementation of the new tax laws, while urging Nigerians to wait for the findings of lawmakers investigating alleged discrepancies in the gazetted laws.
Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Morning Brief’ show on Monday, Oyedele said the lawmakers are best positioned to address the alleged discrepancies since they passed the bill to President Bola Tinubu for assent.
“Let’s wait for the findings of the lawmakers. If, indeed, there were alterations. And if those alterations were substantial, in other words, they’re not editorial, then the next step would be to see how best to address those issues,” he said.
On Wednesday, Abdussamad Dasuki, a member of the house of representatives from Sokoto, claimed that the gazetted tax laws available to Nigerians are different from the laws passed by the national assembly.
In response, the house of representatives constituted a seven-member committee to investigate the alleged discrepancies.
Oyedele said before anyone can claim there is a difference between the gazetted tax laws and what was passed, they must have both copies.
“We have what is gazetted, we don’t have what was passed,” the tax expert said.
“So, the official harmonised bills certified by the clerk, which the national assembly sent to the president, we don’t have the copy to compare. That’s a fundamental issue that people need to be aware of.”
“So, only the lawmakers can say authoritatively that ‘this is what we sent’. And that ‘what we sent’, shouldn’t be the house of rep version, it shouldn’t be the senate version. It should be the harmonised version certified by the clerk.
“So, I can’t say that I have it because I don’t. I only have what was presented to Mr President to sign,” he stated.
The tax expert also said “what has been circulating and also widely reported by a lot of media organisations is actually fake”.
“So, when I saw those things, you would imagine someone like me would take a very keen interest in something like that. So, I reached out to one of the members of the committee that the house of rep set up, and I said, ‘these are some of the allegations’,” he said.
“Let me even tell you the reason why I reached out. There’s a reference in one of those materials to section 41, subsection 8, that says you have to pay a deposit of 20 percent.”
Oyedele said such a provision was not in the final gazette, but appeared in the draft gazette.
“So, I reached out, and the lawmaker said that they haven’t even met. So, some people decided they should write the report of the committee before the committee met, and it has circulated everywhere,” he said.
“So, I don’t know whether it’s useful because, to be honest, I don’t want to speculate.”
Oyedele added that the committee should be allowed to conduct the investigation because “it is not just about the tax reform laws, it’s about our processes”.
“That’s how we make those processes have quality assurance, almost like a system that is so tamper-proof, like the way you print your currency or the way you print the ballot box, ballot papers. That is the way we should take legislation. It matters a lot,” he said.
He said “different versions” of legislation are often printed in the country, adding that “we saw it with Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).”