Former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene and resolve the controversy surrounding the new Tax Act before its implementation.

The controversy arose after a member of the House of Representatives raised concerns that the version of the Tax Act passed by the National Assembly differs from the one gazetted by President Tinubu.

Following the allegation, the House of Representatives established a committee to investigate the claims, particularly in light of the proposed January 1st implementation date for the Act.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday, Ndume appealed to the President to postpone the January implementation to allow for a thorough investigation into the claims and counterclaims regarding alleged alterations to the tax laws.

Ndume’s advice comes amid growing calls from politicians, Civil Society Organisations, and the Nigerian Bar Association for the suspension of the Tax Act.

Specifically, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mazi Afam Osigwe (SAN), warned that the controversies surrounding the Act threaten the integrity, transparency, and credibility of Nigeria’s legislative process, and called for a comprehensive investigation.

In his appeal, Ndume urged President Tinubu to establish an ad-hoc team to examine the allegations, stressing that proceeding with implementation without resolving the matter would create legitimacy challenges for the tax laws.

He said, “As a responsive leader that he has always been, he should look at it to find out if the copy that was signed, whether the claim of alterations was genuine, so that he will do the needful to bring the controversy to rest. If not, the controversy will continue. That is to say, the tax law will not be implemented, because you can’t build on nothing.

“So, Mr. President should suspend the implementation until the issues are resolved because so many civil society organisations, the Arewa Community, the Nigerian Bar Association, are saying that he should withdraw the Tax Law and investigate the allegation of forgery.

“Therefore, Mr. President should get to the root of the allegation of forgery. The small committee that will be set up should look into it while the House of Representatives does its own.”