The immediate past Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mr. Muhammad Nami, has criticized the alleged unauthorized alteration of the Tax Administration Act.

He urged the National Assembly to consider passing a resolution to annul the gazetted versions of the Act.

Nami also called on the executive to direct the FIRS to suspend the release of any regulations and information circulars that have already been prepared, warning that their publication could cause further confusion and disruption in the tax system.

In a statement made available to journalists on Monday, he noted that the actions of the unidentified individuals meant that the version of the legislation actually passed and signed by the President differed from what was ultimately gazetted.

During plenary last Wednesday, House of Representatives member Abdussamad Dasuki (PDP, Sokoto) alleged that discrepancies exist between the versions of the tax laws passed by the House and the copies that were subsequently gazetted.

Nami said, “The occurrence of this incident is not only unusual but also regrettable, and calls for a proper and unimpeded investigation, as well as the prosecution of the perpetrators. Those found culpable must be punished accordingly.”

He urged that the National Assembly should consider passing a resolution directing its committee reviewing the alterations to collaborate with the executive in gazetting the version of the law actually passed by both chambers.

“Sections 4 and 58 of the 1999 Constitution vest law-making power exclusively in the National Assembly,” he stated.

“The executive or any person purporting to act on behalf of the executive has no constitutional authority to alter a bill after passage. Any post-passage alteration is ultra vires, unconstitutional, and void to the extent of the alteration. Affected provisions are vulnerable to judicial invalidation, creating legal and fiscal uncertainty.”

Nami also described it as disturbing and confusing that calls are being made for a stakeholders’ consultation on a document he said was criminally and arbitrarily altered by unidentified individuals.

He, however, stressed that the entire new tax laws should not be discarded, given the research, investment, and legal processes the National Assembly has undertaken since the process began in 2022.

“Our best option in this crisis time is to stand firm with the NASS. They are verifiably doing their best to ensure that there is peace in our country; they are working hard to ensure that all efforts and resources invested in the tax reforms project thus far are not wasted, and that, come January 2026, we can implement the new tax provisions that are needed to block leakages in our tax system, generate revenue to fund our economic growth and developmental programmes, fund debt servicing and budget deficits by the government at all levels, initiate social welfare programmes, provide security and build world-class infrastructure, and attract foreign direct investment in our economy,” he added.