The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has called for the immediate suspension of Nigeria’s newly enacted tax laws, alleging that key provisions were altered after the bills were passed by the National Assembly and signed by President Bola Tinubu, raising what the party describes as a serious constitutional crisis.

The oppositeion party stated that the alleged alterations amount to an executive takeover of the legislative process. It warned that allowing such actions to stand would undermine the principle of separation of powers. The tax laws are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026.

The call was contained In a statement by the ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, who accused certain elements in power of inserting provisions that were never approved by lawmakers and of stripping out safeguards meant to protect citizens.

“The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has reviewed several reports confirming longstanding concerns that the various tax laws passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by President Bola Tinubu contain substantial forgeries; key provisions that were not part of the original bills approved by the legislature,” Abdullahi said.

According to the party, a forensic comparison of the bills passed by the National Assembly and the versions later gazetted revealed significant discrepancies, including the removal of accountability measures and the insertion of enforcement powers that bypass the courts.

“ADC’s forensic review of the original laws and the gazetted versions has established beyond all doubts that key accountability provisions had been deleted and new provisions inserted which granted coercive powers to the Executive in the enforcement of the tax laws without recourse to the court,” Abdullahi stated.

The ADC described as particularly troubling an alleged clause empowering the federal government to arrest individuals and take over property for non-compliance with the tax laws, insisting that such powers were never contemplated or approved by the legislature.

“For example, one of the criminal insertions into the laws grants the government of Bola Tinubu the express power to arrest and take over the property of anyone who does not comply with the tax laws,” the party noted.

While restating its opposition to taxes it believes would worsen the economic hardship facing Nigerians and businesses, the party said the controversy goes far beyond fiscal policy and speaks to the character and intent of the administration.

“But this issue goes beyond taxation. It speaks to the criminal mindset of a government that has no ethical boundaries, has no regard for democratic institutions and will do anything to pursue its narrow selfish agenda,” Abdullahi said.

The ADC argued that altering a law after its passage by elected representatives amounts to an assault on constitutional governance and reflects what it described as authoritarian tendencies within the executive.

“Altering legislations and gazetting same after they have been passed by 469 elected representatives of the Nigerian people is indeed a direct assault on constitutional governance,” Abdullahi insisted.

Citing the Constitution, the party stressed that only the legislature has the authority to make laws and warned that tolerating post-passage alterations would set a dangerous precedent for Nigeria’s democracy.

“To accept that the executive could whimsically insert or remove even a punctuation mark from a piece of legislation after it has been passed by the legislature is to arrogate lawmaking powers on the executive arm of government,” Abdullahi argued.

The ADC therefore demanded the immediate suspension of all the 2025 tax laws signed by President Tinubu to allow the National Assembly carry out a full review. It also called for a public investigation into the alleged alterations and the prosecution of any government official found culpable, describing the matter as one that strikes ‘at the very heart of our democracy.’ (Saturday Vanguard)

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