We didn’t alter tax laws — FG

The Presidency, yesterday, distanced itself from alleged alterations of the tax bill passed by both chambers of the National Assembly.

Addressing questions from journalists, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Mohammed, dismissed claims of executive interference in the tax law process, saying any discrepancy identified was an affair of the National Assembly.

Mr. Abdulsammad Dasuki (PDP, Sokoto) alleged, last week, that the gazetted version of the tax laws is different from what lawmakers debated and approved, prompting the House of Representatives to set up a seven-man committee to investigate the matter and report back.

Amid pressure and public outrage, the House of Representatives will sit today to debate the issue.
The Senate will also sit to deliberate on constitution amendment among other issues.

Responding to claims by lawmakers that the tax laws President Bola Tinubu signed into law differed from what the National Assembly passed, Idris said the matter was firmly within the legislature’s domain.

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“To be honest with you, I have not seen the two versions. What I know is that the executive presented a document, it was processed by the National Assembly, passed, returned and signed. If the National Assembly has identified discrepancies and has set up a committee, we should allow that process to run,”he said.

The minister stressed that as far as the Federal Government was concerned, “there is only one version of the tax document,” adding that any further clarification will come after the lawmakers conclude their review.