Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, a former Senate Leader, has called on President Bola Tinubu to get involved in the dispute surrounding the recently passed Tax Reform Acts and halt their January implementation.
In a statement released today in Abuja, Ndume made the request in the midst of mounting allegations and rebuttals regarding the legitimacy of the tax legislation that the president has signed.
According to The Nation, he pointed out that a number of opposition lawmakers and civil society organizations, including as the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), have voiced concerns and demanded that the legislation’ implementation be halted while the issues are clarified.
NBA President Mazi Afam Osigwe (SAN) said that the disputes jeopardize Nigeria’s legislative process’s legitimacy, integrity, and openness in a statement released yesterday, Tuesday.
He claims that the accusations go right to the heart of constitutional government.
According to Osigwe, “the Nigerian Bar Association considers it imperative that a thorough, transparent, and open investigation be conducted to clarify the circumstances surrounding the enactment of the laws and to restore public confidence in the legislative process.”
“All plans for the implementation of the Tax Reform Acts should be immediately suspended until these issues are thoroughly investigated and resolved.”
When Abdussamad Dasuki, a member of the House of Representatives, brought the chamber’s attention to purported changes in the tax legislation last week, the dispute grew more heated.
Dasuki asserted that the final copy approved by the National Assembly and delivered to President Tinubu for approval was different from the version that the Federal Government had formally gazetted.
In response, Ndume, the senatorial representative for Borno South, asked the president to form an ad hoc committee to confirm the accuracy of the claims.
He cautioned that if the issue is not resolved before implementation begins, the legislation’ legality may be called into question.
“Given the controversy, the President ought to assemble a team to confirm the accuracy of the claim and take appropriate action,” Ndume stated.
“He should check to see if the signed copy matches the one that was approved by the National Assembly, as he has always been a responsive leader.”
The former Senate Chief Whip warned that if the accusations were not addressed, the debate would continue and the tax laws’ full implementation would be delayed.
The controversy will go on if the problem is not fixed. In other words, since you cannot build on nothing, the tax law will not be put into effect,” he continued.
Ndume further noted that a number of organizations, including the NBA, the Arewa community, and civil society organizations, have demanded that the tax legislation be withdrawn until the suspected forgery is investigated.
As a result, he recommended that the President halt implementation while the House of Representatives continues its investigation into the charges and a tiny investigative committee looks into them.
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