Former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to suspend the January 1, 2026, implementation of the country’s new tax laws amid growing controversy.
The federal lawmaker made the appeal in a statement he issued on Wednesday in Abuja.
This comes as the Nigerian Bar Association demanded the suspension of the implementation.
Earlier a member of the House of Representatives, Abdussamad Dasuki, had last week called the Parliament’s attention to alleged alteration to the tax laws.
Chairman of thePresidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, in an interview on Arise Television on Wednesday, called for calm over claims of alterations in tax laws and urged Nigerians to allow lawmakers to complete their investigation before drawing conclusions.
Speaking on the ongoing controversy about the tax laws, Ndume noted that proceeding with the implementation without getting to the root of the alleged forgery will create a legitimacy challenge for the tax laws.
His statement read, “With the controversy surrounding it, the President should constitute a team to verify the veracity of the claim and act accordingly.
“As the responsive leader that he has always been, he should look at it to find out if the copy that was signed and the claim of alterations are 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 organizations, the Arewa Community, and 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.”
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