The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, has constituted a seven-member ad hoc committee to investigate allegations of discrepancies between tax bills passed by the National Assembly and the versions later assented to and gazetted.
The committee will be chaired by Hon. Muktar Aliyu Betara, with members including former Deputy Speaker Ahmed Idris Wase, Sada Soli, James Abiodun Faleke, Fred Agbedi, Babajimi Benson, and Iduma Igariwey.
The move followed a Point of Privilege raised on Wednesday by Hon. Abdulsammad Dasuki (PDP, Sokoto), who alleged that the tax laws made available to the public differed from those debated, approved, and passed by lawmakers.
Raising the matter under Order Six, Rule Two of the House Rules, Dasuki said his legislative privilege had been breached, noting that the gazetted versions of the tax laws did not reflect the content adopted by both chambers of the National Assembly.
He explained that after the passage of the bills, he compared the gazetted copies with the Votes and Proceedings of the House and the harmonised versions agreed upon by the House and the Senate, and discovered inconsistencies.
“I was present, I voted, and my vote was counted, yet I am seeing something entirely different,” Dasuki said, adding that copies obtained from the Ministry of Information were inconsistent with the versions approved by the legislature.
The lawmaker described the situation as a serious breach of legislative procedure and the Constitution, urging the Speaker to ensure that all relevant documents—including the harmonised bills, Votes and Proceedings, and the gazetted laws—are presented to the Committee of the Whole for scrutiny.
He warned that allowing laws that differ from those duly passed by the National Assembly to be enforced would undermine the credibility of the legislature and violate constitutional provisions.
Presiding over the plenary, Speaker Abbas acknowledged the concerns raised and assured members that appropriate action would be taken.
