Tax Laws: ADC insists gazetted copy reeks of forgery

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has called for an immediate suspension of the Tinubu administration’s tax laws, which are set to take effect on January 1, 2026.

In a statement released on Saturday, the party alleged that the final copy of the tax reforms is not the original Tax Reforms Bills passed by the National Assembly for presidential assent. Following allegations of forgery by some federal lawmakers in the House of Representatives, several ADC leaders held a press conference earlier in the week, during which they described the tax laws as draconian and a threat to the survival of already impoverished Nigerians.

Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC National Publicity Secretary, signed the weekend statement, warning that altering a piece of legislation after it has been passed by the National Assembly indicates that President Tinubu seeks to concentrate all powers in his hands.

The party is also calling for a public inquiry to investigate the circumstances surrounding the unauthorised alterations to the duly passed law and to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.

The full statement reads: “The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has reviewed various reports which confirm doubts that the various tax laws which was passed by the National Assemblyand signed into law by President Bola Tinubu contain substantial forgery of key provisions that were not in the original law passed by the legislature.

“ADC’s forensic review of the original laws and the gazetted versions have also 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. 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 ADC’s position on the so-called tax reforms has been made clear. We do not support any tax that is more likely to compound the misery and hardship already faced by citizens and businesses. But this issue goes beyond taxations. 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.

“Altering legislation and gazetting same after they have been passed by 469 elected representatives of the Nigerian people is indeed a direct assault on constitutional governance. More fundamentally, it is indicative of the totalitarian instincts of a President desirous of concentrating all powers of government to himself, even it means violating the very constitution from which he derives his authority.

“For avoidance of doubts, under our constitution, only the legislature can make laws. Therefore, any legislation that has not been passed according to the provisions of our constitution cannot stand. 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 law making powers on the executive arm of government. This portends great danger to our democracy.

“The ADC therefore calls for immediate suspension of all the 2025 tax laws that has been signed by President Bola Tinubu to allow for a full legislative review. This is the only reasonable course of action if we must not give the dangerous impression that the principle of separation of power enshrined in our constitution could be sidestepped by the President.

“We also call for a full investigation and immediate prosecution of any official of government who may be found culpable in the execution of this act of forgery that touches at the very heart of our democracy.”