• Speaker Abbas Tajudeen

The House of Representatives, under the leadership of the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, has released the four tax reform Acts duly signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to Nigerians for public record, verification, and reference.

In a statement on Saturday, Rep. Akintunde Rotimi, Spokesman, House of Representatives, said that Speaker Abbas, in concert with the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, directed the immediate release of the Certified True Copies (CTCs) of the Acts, including the endorsement and assent pages signed by the President, following public concerns and allegations regarding purported alterations and the circulation of unauthorised and misleading versions of the laws.

The statement reads:

” This decisive intervention underscores Speaker Abbas’ long-standing commitment to transparency, legislative integrity, and public confidence in the law-making process.

Indeed, the attention of the House was drawn to the existence of inconsistent versions of the tax laws in circulation after a vigilant Honourable Member identified discrepancies, raised the alarm, and formally reported the matter to the House on a point of privilege.

Acting promptly, the Speaker ordered an internal verification and the immediate public release of the certified Acts to eliminate doubt, restore clarity, and protect the sanctity of the legislative record.

From the initiation of the tax reform process through extensive stakeholder consultations, committee scrutiny, rigorous clause-by-clause consideration, robust plenary debates, and eventual passage, Speaker Abbas has provided firm and steady leadership to ensure that the reforms were evidence-based, inclusive, and aligned with Nigeria’s fiscal realities and development priorities.

Throughout the process, Speaker Abbas consistently emphasised that tax reform must be anchored on clarity, fairness, and strict adherence to constitutional and parliamentary procedure.

The four Acts released are:

• The Nigeria Tax Act, 2025

• The Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025

• The National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025

• The Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, 2025.

These landmark legislations constitute the backbone of Nigeria’s contemporary tax reform architecture, designed to modernise revenue administration, improve compliance, reduce inefficiencies, eliminate duplications, and strengthen fiscal coordination across the federation.

In directing the release of the certified Acts, Speaker Abbas reassured Nigerians that the National Assembly remains an institution of records, guided by clearly defined rules, precedents, archival systems, and verification processes that safeguard the authenticity of every law enacted.

According to him:“The National Assembly is an institution built on records, procedure, and institutional memory. Every Bill, every amendment, and every Act follows a traceable constitutional and parliamentary pathway.

Once a law is passed and assented to, its integrity is preserved through certification and custody by the legislature.

There is no ambiguity about what constitutes the law.”

Speaker Abbas further emphasised that the House would remain vigilant and proactive in defending the integrity of its work, clarifying that the only authentic and authoritative versions of the four tax Acts are those certified and released by the National Assembly.Members of the public, institutions, professionals, and stakeholders are therefore advised to disregard and discountenance any other documents or versions in circulation that are not certified by the National Assembly, as such materials do not form part of the official legislative record.

Consequently, the Clerk to the National Assembly has concluded the process of aligning the Acts – duly passed, assented to, and certified – with the Federal Government Printing Press to ensure accuracy, conformity, and uniformity. Hard copies of the certified tax Acts have also been produced and are being circulated to all Honourable Members and Distinguished Senators, and made available to the public, to ensure institutional clarity, uniform reference, and legislative certainty.

The House affirms that the work of the Ad-Hoc Committee, chaired by Rt. Hon. Muktar Aliyu Betara, continues, in line with its mandate, to determine the circumstances surrounding the circulation of unauthorised versions of the tax Acts and to recommend measures that will prevent a recurrence and preserve the authenticity and reliability of parliamentary records.

The House of Representatives, under the leadership of Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, reaffirms its unwavering commitment to constitutionalism, the rule of law, transparency, and accountable governance.

The House will continue to strengthen internal controls, uphold institutional discipline, and protect the integrity of Nigeria’s legislative process in the collective interest of the Nigerian people.

In a move to promote transparency and address public concerns, the House of Representatives has released certified true copies (CTCs) of the four tax reform Acts signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The release includes endorsement and assent pages, aimed at countering allegations of unauthorized alterations and misleading versions circulating publicly.

Speaker Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, in collaboration with Senate President Godswill Akpabio, directed the immediate publication of the authentic documents. This follows reports of discrepancies flagged by a House member, prompting internal verification and public disclosure to restore confidence in the legislative process.

The controversy emerged after inconsistencies were identified between the laws passed by the National Assembly and versions in circulation. Speaker Abbas emphasized the institution’s commitment to procedural integrity, stating: “The National Assembly is an institution built on records, procedure, and institutional memory. Every Bill, every amendment, and every Act follows a traceable constitutional and parliamentary pathway.

“The released Acts are:- Nigeria Tax Act, 2025- Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025- Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025- Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, 2025.

These laws form the foundation of Nigeria’s tax modernization efforts, seeking to streamline administration, boost compliance, eliminate redundancies, and enhance federal coordination.

The House urged the public, institutions, and stakeholders to rely solely on National Assembly-certified versions, dismissing unauthorized copies as invalid. Hard copies are now being distributed to lawmakers and made available publicly, with alignment processes underway at the Federal Government Printing Press.

An ad-hoc committee, chaired by Rt. Hon. Muktar Aliyu Betara, continues investigating the circulation of unauthorized versions to prevent future occurrences.

The House reaffirmed its dedication to transparency, rule of law, and accountable governance under Speaker Abbas’ leadership.

Port Harcourt: Men of the Rivers State police command on Saturday recovered and handover to the Arise News team in Port Harcourt Sonny a Canada Zed 280 camera that was forcefully seized from them by political thugs during a live interview session with former Rivers State Commissioner for Employment Generation and Empowerment, Dr Leloonu Nwibubasa on Friday.

The assailants had stormed and invaded Londa hotel located in the Orazi axis of Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State when Dr Nwibubasa was speaking about the current political situation in the state.

Their annoyance being that Dr Nwibubasa was not only discussing the ongoing political situation in Rivers State but allegedly criticising the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, who is from the Whimpey/Orazi area of Port Harcourt where the hotel is located.

The armed political thugs broke into the room around 9:15 p.m, looking for both the former Commissioner and members of the Arise news team.

They were chanting in their local Ikwerre language, forcing doors open and seizing people’s phones as Workers in the hotel scampered to safety for fear of being attacked.

When the assailants got to the spot the interview was holding,they threatened the former commissioner and the Arise news crew to discontinue the interview forcing it to abruptly stop the process.

Thereafter, the crew was forced to make a distress call to their colleagues who immediately alerted the police before dashing to the hotel.

Ironically, the Arise News TV crew had earlier Friday covered an event by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike in Omoku in Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni local government area.

Expectely, Dr Nwibubasa has condemned the attack, saying the development is not healthy in a democracy.