The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on the Federal Government to immediately make public the certified true copies of the recently gazetted tax laws and to constitute an independent investigative panel to probe allegations of unauthorised alterations to the legislation.
SERAP said the panel should be chaired by a retired Justice of the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeal, insisting that its findings must be made public and that anyone found culpable should be prosecuted.
The rights group’s demand follows growing concerns raised by the National Assembly over alleged discrepancies between the tax bills passed by lawmakers and the versions eventually published by the Federal Government.
A lawmaker from Sokoto State, Abdussamad Dasuki, had earlier raised the alarm on the floor of the House of Representatives under a matter of privilege, alleging significant differences between the harmonised bills approved by both chambers and the gazetted laws.
According to SERAP, lawmakers have alleged that critical oversight and accountability safeguards were removed from the final versions of the laws, while new enforcement and fiscal powers were allegedly inserted without legislative approval.
These powers, SERAP said, reportedly include arrest authority, garnishment without court orders and mandatory dollar-based assessments, all of which were never debated or approved by the National Assembly.
Describing the alleged alterations as unconstitutional, SERAP argued that withholding authentic copies of the laws violates Nigerians’ right to information as guaranteed under Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), as well as provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The organisation warned that failure by the Federal Government to comply with its request within seven days would leave it with no option but to approach the courts to compel disclosure in the public interest.
SERAP maintained that making the certified true copies publicly available would enable Nigerians to scrutinise the laws, assess their implications for human rights, accountability and governance, and challenge any unlawful provisions through appropriate legal channels.
“The public has a right to know the exact contents of the laws that govern them,” the group said, stressing that transparency and legislative integrity are essential to the rule of law and democratic accountability.
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