Former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to suspend the implementation of the disputed Tax Reform Acts scheduled to take effect in January, amid growing controversy over their passage.
Ndume made the call in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, following claims and counter-claims over alleged alterations to the tax laws after their passage by the National Assembly.
The appeal comes amid protests by opposition politicians and civil society organisations, including the Nigerian Bar Association, which have demanded that the Federal Government halt the implementation of the laws.
Reacting, Ndume, who represents Borno South Senatorial District, urged Tinubu to set up an ad hoc committee to verify the authenticity of the laws and investigate the alleged alterations.
The former Senate Chief Whip warned that implementing the laws without resolving the allegations would create legitimacy challenges and undermine public trust.
He said, “With the controversy surrounding it, the President should constitute a team to verify the veracity of the claim and act accordingly.
“As a responsive leader that he has always been, he should look into it to find out whether the claim of alterations was genuine so that he will do the needful to bring the controversy to rest.
“If not, the controversy will continue. That is to say, the tax law will not be implemented, because you can’t build on nothing. So, Mr President should suspend the implementation until the issues are resolved because so many civil society organisations, the Arewa Community, the Nigerian Bar Association, are saying that he should withdraw the Tax Law and investigate the allegation of forgery.
“Therefore, Mr President should get to the root of the allegation of forgery. The small committee that will be set up should look into it while the House of Representatives does its own.”
On Tuesday, the NBA President, Afam Osigwe (SAN), warned that the controversies surrounding the tax laws threaten the integrity and credibility of Nigeria’s legislative process.
Osigwe said the issues strike at the core of constitutional governance and called for an open and transparent investigation to restore public confidence.
The controversy was further fuelled last week when a member of the House of Representatives, Abdussamad Dasuki, alleged that the version of the tax laws gazetted by the Federal Government was different from the final copy passed by the National Assembly and forwarded to the President for assent.
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