WHO SWITCHED OUR TAX LAWS?

Nigeria is one of the few countries where serious governance is treated like background music, while political drama is treated like national emergency.

A Senate chamber can suddenly find oxygen, attendance, outrage, livestream energy, and moral vocabulary when the headline is a juicy power tussle — like the Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan vs Senate President Godswill Akpabio saga that dominated national conversation and ended in her suspension and a full-blown public storm.

But when the matter on the table is something that can destabilize the entire economy — the integrity of Nigeria’s tax laws — the urgency becomes lukewarm, the accountability becomes elastic, and the official attitude becomes: “Everybody relax.”

Relax? Somebody may have edited the laws of the Federal Republic like a WhatsApp message.

Welcome to Muguland. I’m the Mayor of Fadeyi. Let’s talk.

The scandal in one sentence

A sitting lawmaker, Hon. Abdulsamad Dasuki, has alleged that the gazetted versions of Nigeria’s new tax reform laws differ materially from what the National Assembly debated, harmonised, voted on, and passed

Let that sink in. Not “typo.” Not “formatting.” Material differences.

And in a republic, when the public record of the law (the Gazette) doesn’t match what the legislature says it passed, you don’t have “policy disagreement” anymore.

You have a constitutional crisis and a potential crime scene.

Which tax laws are we talking about?

The tax reform package signed in June 2025 is widely described as four Acts, including the Nigeria Tax Act and Nigeria Tax Administration Act, alongside new institutional frameworks for revenue administration. The same reforms are expected to take effect January 1, 2026.

So we’re not discussing a ceremonial memo. We’re discussing the legal engine room that will affect compliance, enforcement powers, disputes, penalties, and taxpayer obligations.

The most insulting part: everybody is “Spiderman-pointing-at-Spiderman”

Here’s the problem: between the legislature, the executive, and the gazette publication process, somebody touched something.

And instead of a national emergency response, what Nigerians have gotten so far is institutional shrugging and finger-pointing:

• A lawmaker says: “What we passed is not what is being gazetted.”

• The controversy goes public.

• Yet the Federal Government is reported to be insisting: “We are still implementing January 1, 2026.”

So Nigeria will implement a law while Nigerians are still debating which version is authentic?

That is not reform. That is regulatory roulette.

“Which law are you implementing on January 1?”

Let me ask Abuja a question that even a WAEC student understands:

How do you enforce a law that is allegedly different from what the National Assembly passed?

Tax is not motivational speaking.
Tax is precision.
Tax is calculation.
Tax is enforcement.
Tax is penalty.

So if the legal foundation is in doubt, every business owner is right to ask:

• Which text should my accountants rely on?

• Which clauses will regulators enforce?

• Which version will courts recognise?

When law is unclear, it becomes a weapon — used selectively against the weak and ignored for the connected.

The “Natasha vs Akpabio” contrast that should shame the system

Let me be blunt. Nigeria’s political class has an attention problem.

When the Natasha/Akpabio matter hit the airwaves, it became national oxygen — harassment allegations, petitions, procedural battles, suspension, protests, global headlines.

But now that we’re dealing with something that can undermine investor confidence, compliance culture, and the legitimacy of law itself — the energy is not matching the danger.

In a serious country, this tax-law controversy would trigger:

• an immediate forensic investigation,

• a chain-of-custody audit,

• suspensions pending inquiry,

• and a public release of certified documents.

In Nigeria? We are getting vibes and press posture.

Deja vu: Buhari’s 2016 “Missing Budget” — the first kidnapping

And this is why Nigerians are not calm. Because we have seen a similar movie before.

In January 2016, Nigeria was thrown into controversy over the 2016 budget — reports of missing copies, confusion over versions, and allegations that the document circulating was not the same as what was originally presented.

At the time, reputable reports documented Senate leadership alleging that Ita Enang, then a presidential aide on National Assembly matters, circulated a version they described as different from the one Buhari presented.

Whether you call it “missing,” “fake,” “substituted,” or “doctored,” the central takeaway was the same: Nigeria’s most sensitive national documents were moving around without tight, verifiable custody controls. And here we are again — but this time with tax laws.

The real scandal behind the scandal

The biggest question Nigerians should be asking is not only: “Who did it this time?”

The bigger question is: “Is this a routine institutional weakness — and we only hear about it when a brave person blows the whistle?”

Because if Nigeria does not have strict document integrity controls, then we have a terrifying possibility:

How many laws have been quietly “edited” after passage — and the nation has been obeying them like obedient lemmings?

That is not a small fear. That is a republic-level problem.

A 7-point emergency fix Nigeria must implement now

If Tinubu’s government wants Nigerians to trust tax reform (or any reform), here’s the minimum standard:

1. Pause implementation until authenticity is settled — not forever, just long enough to restore certainty.

2. Publish the Certified True Copy (CTC) of what the National Assembly passed — publicly, not “available on request.”

3. Publish the exact version transmitted for presidential assent, with receiving stamps and timestamps.

4. Publish the assented version kept in official custody, and the gazetted version side-by-side.

5. Do a forensic chain-of-custody audit: who handled what, when, where, and under whose authority.

6. Secure the evidence trail: print logs, approvals, document versions, email chains, workflow records.

7. Prosecute any confirmed tampering — because if no one is punished, the system learns the wrong lesson.

This isn’t “opposition.” This is basic governance hygiene.

Tinubu’s government needs to understand this simple truth

You cannot sell “renewed hope” while citizens are wondering if the laws are being printed straight or edited sideways.

You can’t begin a “revolutionary tax reform” with credibility smoke pouring out of the engine room.

And you cannot ask Nigerians to comply with a law when Nigerians are asking, with full justification:

Which one is the law?

If you want voluntary compliance, you must first guarantee legal certainty.

My Final word

Nigeria must stop running a republic like a roadside printing press.

The Senate should stop treating serious governance like “optional attendance” while treating drama like a national sport.

And the Presidency should stop managing optics when it should be managing integrity.

Because the day Nigerians fully accept that laws can be “edited after passage” is the day the republic quietly dies.

And we are not there yet.

Not on my watch.