Senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, has insisted that there are discrepancies in the tax reform laws passed by the National Assembly and the one signed by President Bola Tinubu.
A member of the House of Representatives, Abdussamad Dasuki, had last year alleged discrepancies between the tax reform bills passed by lawmakers and the copies later made available to the public.
Ndume, who spoke on Wednesday on Prime Time, a programme on Arise TV, while reacting to controversies surrounding the tax legislation, accused the Tinubu administration of treating Nigerians with levity.
He said Taiwo Oyedele, chairman of the presidential committee on tax reforms, had admitted that there were “differentials” and “at least two versions” of the tax law, noting that any correction must be handled by the national assembly.
“Even the chairman of the presidential committee on tax reform, Taiwo Oyedele, admitted that there are differentials, two versions, or at least two versions of the tax law, and that if something has to be done, it has to be the national assembly,” he said.
Reacting to claims by Godswill Akpabio, senate president, that there were no discrepancies, Ndume said that position was merely an opinion.
“That is his opinion, and as for me, I did a lot of research on it, and the house of reps member raised that matter, and they didn’t deny it,” he said.
Ndume added that the house of representatives is still investigating the matter, underlining that his concern is about secrecy in governance.
“My problem is not whether there are discrepancies or not; I am worried about doing things behind closed doors. This is government of the people, for the people, and by the people,” he said.
He said the national assembly leadership should openly address the issue, adding that lawmakers have the right to express dissenting views without being labelled rebels.
“I called on the leadership to say, ‘look, there is a problem here, because what we passed is not what the president signed’,” he said.
Ndume warned that the discrepancies should not be ignored because laws do not stand on “disputed grounds” or they may be challenged in court.
“This is not something they can just bury, because the way they are going about it is full of contradiction and controversy,” he said.
He dismissed claims that the tax reforms were already being implemented, insisting that implementation is impossible with multiple versions of the law in the public space.
“As I told you, there are different versions out there, so which one do they implement?” he said.
Ndume accused the government of personalising national issues, warning that the matter would backfire if not resolved.
“The president is president of Nigeria; he is a servant of the people, Nigerians are not servants of the president, and this thing is going to fall on them if they don’t fix it,” he said.
