A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abdulsammad Dasuki (PDP, Sokoto), on Wednesday raised the alarm over alleged discrepancies between tax laws passed by the National Assembly and the versions later gazetted and released to the public.
Rising on a Point of Privilege under Order Six, Rule Two of the House Rules, Dasuki told the House that his legislative privilege had been breached, insisting that the contents of the gazetted tax laws did not reflect what lawmakers debated, voted on, and duly passed on the floor of the House.
According to him, following the passage of the tax bills, he spent the last three days carefully reviewing the gazetted copies alongside the Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives, as well as the harmonised versions adopted by both chambers of the National Assembly, only to discover what he described as disturbing inconsistencies.
“I was here, I gave my vote and it was counted, and I am seeing something completely different,” Dasuki said.
He explained that he obtained copies of the gazetted laws from the Ministry of Information and found that they did not align with what was approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The lawmaker stressed that the issue went beyond moving a motion, describing it instead as a fundamental breach of legislative procedure and constitutional order.
He called on the Speaker to ensure that all relevant documents — including the harmonised versions of the bills, the Votes and Proceedings of both chambers, and the gazetted copies currently in circulation — are presented before the Committee of the Whole for examination by all members.
Dasuki warned that allowing laws different from those legitimately passed by the National Assembly to be presented to Nigerians would seriously undermine the integrity of the legislature and amount to a violation of the Constitution.
“Mr. Speaker, I will be pleading that all the documents should be brought before the Committee of the Whole. Thank you. The whole members should see what is in the gazetted copy and see what they passed on the floor so that we can make the relevant amendment. Mister Speaker, this is the breach of the Constitution.
“This is the breach of our laws, and this should not be taken by this honorable House. Thank you Mister Speaker,” he said.
Responding, Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, who presided over the plenary, said he had taken note of the Point of Privilege raised by Dasuki and assured lawmakers that appropriate action would be taken on the matter.
