By Ikechukwu Nnochiri, Henry Ojelu, Gift Odekina & Elizabeth Osayande
ABUJA — Legal practitioners in the country have weighed in on the allegation that tax reform laws passed by the National Assembly and assented to by President Bola Tinubu were altered in the copy that was officially gazetted.
This came as the Speaker House of Representatives, Mr. Tajudeen Abbas has set up a seven-man ad-hoc committee to investigate allegations of discrepancies between the tax bills passed by the National Assembly and the versions subsequently assented to and gazetted.
It will be recalled that Abdulsammad Dasuki (PDP Sokoto), had on Wednesday during plenary raised a matter of privilege on the floor of the House, alleging discrepancies between the tax laws passed by the National Assembly and the versions subsequently gazetted and made available to the public.
Reacting to the development, yesterday, Mr. Dayo Akinlaja, SAN, said: “The constitutional responsibility of the President is to give or withhold assent to a bill duly passed by the National Assembly.
“Once a bill is passed by the National Assembly, the President is required to sign it as presented where he is disposed to giving his assent.
“If the President finds anything objectionable, uncomfortable or unacceptable in the bill as presented, he is required to return the bill and request for amendments to take care of his concerns.
“Where the National Assembly, after due reconsideration, agrees to amend to accommodate the spotlighted concerns, the bill will be duly passed again and sent back for presidential assent.
“In the context of Sections 58 and 59 of the 1999 Constitution, it is unconstitutional and invalid for a gazetted law to be different from the contents of a bill as passed by the National Assembly.”
Similarly, another lawyer and activist, Mr. Deji Adeyanju, said: “There are disturbing reports that the tax reform bill assented to by President Bola Tinubu is materially different from the version duly passed by the National Assembly. If this allegation is true, it represents the greatest mockery of Nigeria’s democracy since 1999.
“In a sane constitutional democracy, the President can only assent to the exact bill passed by the legislature. Any post-passage alteration, whether by omission, addition, or substitution, amounts to legislative fraud and an affront to the sovereignty of the Nigerian people.
“The Tinubu administration must immediately come clean with an explanation and publish the authenticated version of the bill passed by the National Assembly. Anything short of this shows that the Tinubu administration is a criminal enterprise masquerading as a government, “ Adeyanju added.
Also reacting, Mr. Sylvester Emokhare, a lawyer, said: “Sections 4 and 58 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, are very clear. Only the National Assembly, to the exclusion of every other institution of government, has the powers to make laws for the country.
“Likewise, the gazetted version of every law serves as official public record. It is the authority that enables enforcement.
“Therefore, the discrepancies noted by the House of Representatives, if found to be true, have raised serious constitutional concerns.
“What were provisions of the original bill that was passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by the president? At what point were those provisions altered?
“These are germane questions that deserve answers.
“As it stands, the National Assembly is expected to set up an ad-hoc committee that would thoroughly investigate this issue because it is capable of undermining the integrity of our law making process.
“If it is established that indeed the gazetted copy differed in content with the law that was duly passed and assented to, it is either legislative steps are taken to correct the anomaly, or a legal action instituted to enable the court to nullify the altered law or strike down the offensive sections, as the case may be.”
A professor of Law, Gbenga Bamodu, said: “The will of Parliament, i.e., the National Assembly is that the law is to be enacted in a particular form and with particular wording.
“The form and wording is that which emerges after the forms and wordings of the bill as passed in each House of the National Assembly (the Senate and the House of Representatives) have been harmonised. It is this harmonised version that the NASS presents to the President as its will for the President’s assent.
“If the version presented to and signed by the President is different, an explanation is called for, not least because it raises a suspicion of error at least or even worse of fraud. And this is on an important Constitutional and societal matter such as taxation.
“There is the further question of how the courts will treat the validity of the law, whether it is valid in that form and as long as it has the President’s assent or whether the validity will be queried on the basis that what was assented to does not represent the will of the National Assembly.
“On a wider note, it is another call to attention for us as to how we approach and uphold progresses rigorously and with integrity.”
Meanwhile, a chartered accountant, Oladimeji Oke, CEO, Xtrathinktank Solutions, reacting said:
“I must say that these discrepancies could create legal uncertainty for both taxpayers and enforcement agencies.
“If nothing is done about it before January, it would impact implementation of the law adversely because it can lead to conflicting interpretations among tax authorities, courts, tax practitioners, selective enforcement based on the version most convenient to government
“Hence, from a professional tax standpoint, I think the National Assembly should formally reconcile the texts, through an amendment Act so that there would be clarity. The tax authorities should also exercise restraint, pending clarification.”
Reps constitute committee to probe alleged ‘alterations
The Speaker, yesterday, at plenary, set up the committee to be chaired by Muktar Betara. Other members of the committee include former Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase, Sada Soli, James Faleke, Fred Agbedi, Babajimi Benson and Iduma Igariwey.
Speaker Tajudeen who presided over the plenary at yesterday’s plenary set up the committee to look into the allegation.
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