The minority caucus of Nigeria’s House of Representatives has established a seven member investigative committee to examine allegations that the country’s newly enacted tax reform laws were altered after receiving legislative approval.
The House of Representatives is Nigeria’s lower legislative chamber within the National Assembly, the country’s federal lawmaking body based in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.
The committee is chaired by Afam Ogene, a lawmaker representing Ogbaru Federal Constituency in Anambra State, located in southeastern Nigeria. The panel is tasked with reviewing claims that the tax laws, which were recently signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, do not reflect the harmonised version passed by both chambers of the National Assembly.
Okay News reports that the decision followed a formal allegation raised during a plenary session by Abdussamad Dasuki, a federal lawmaker representing a constituency in Sokoto State, northwestern Nigeria. Dasuki claimed that the version of the tax laws currently gazetted by the Federal Government differs significantly from the final version approved by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Nigeria’s Senate is the upper chamber of the National Assembly, and both chambers must pass identical versions of legislation before it can be forwarded to the President for assent.
Although the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, had earlier set up a separate seven member panel to look into the allegation, the House later directed the Clerk to the National Assembly to re gazette the harmonised version of the tax laws and issue a True Certified Copy in an effort to resolve the controversy.
Despite growing calls from lawmakers and civil society groups for the suspension of the implementation of the new tax regime until the matter was fully resolved, the Federal Government proceeded with enforcement. Acting on the directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s President and Head of Government, the new tax framework took effect on Thursday, Thursday 1 January 2026.
In a statement released on Friday, Friday 2 January 2026, the minority caucus explained the rationale behind the formation of its own investigative panel. The statement was signed by Kingsley Chinda, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, alongside three other caucus leaders.
“We wish to inform our members that after due consultations with relevant stakeholders on the unending controversy over the allegations of unlawful alterations made to the tax reform laws passed by the National Assembly and signed by the President, as well as the insistence of the executive to proceed with implementation of the tax laws from January 1, 2026, the leadership of the minority caucus of the House of Representatives thought it expedient to institute a seven man fact finding committee to help our caucus get to the root of all the issues surrounding this scandal,” the statement said.
The caucus stressed its role as the opposition bloc within the House and its obligation to safeguard public interest.
“As the opposition bloc in the House of Representatives, we believe that we owe it to Nigerians to make an independent and non biased investigation, to establish all the facts and arrive at the truth in the matter of the tax laws,” the statement added.
According to the caucus, the committee has been mandated to obtain copies of the tax laws passed by both chambers of the National Assembly and the version assented to by the President. It will also retrieve the Federal Government gazette containing the disputed version of the laws.
The panel will then compare the documents to determine whether the laws signed by the President are the same as those officially published by the government’s gazetting authority. Where discrepancies are established, the committee is expected to recommend appropriate actions to the minority caucus.
Other members of the committee include Jonathan Gbefwi, Shehu Fagge, Aliyu Garu, Stanley Adedeji, Ibe Okwara, and Marie Ibikake.
The committee has been given seven days to submit its report.
Reaffirming its commitment to accountability, the caucus stated that it would pursue the matter to its logical conclusion in the interest of Nigerians, particularly the poor and vulnerable.
“We are determined, more than ever, to make sure our country’s citizens are not short changed,” the statement concluded.
