A member of the House of Representatives, Abdulsammad Dasuki (PDP, Sokoto), on Wednesday raised the alarm over alleged discrepancies between tax laws passed by the National Assembly and the versions subsequently gazetted and released to the public.
Rising on a Point of Privilege under Order Six, Rule Two of the House Rules, Dasuki told the chamber that his legislative privilege had been breached, insisting that the contents of the gazetted tax laws did not reflect what lawmakers debated, voted on and duly passed.
He said that after the passage of the tax bills, he spent the last three days scrutinising the gazetted copies alongside the Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives and the harmonised versions adopted by both chambers, only to discover material inconsistencies.
“I was here, I gave my vote, and it was counted, and I am seeing something completely different,” Dasuki said.
According to him, copies of the gazetted laws obtained from the Ministry of Information differed from what was approved by both the House and the Senate, raising serious concerns about the integrity of the legislative process.
The lawmaker stressed that the issue was not about moving a motion, but about alerting the House to what he described as a grave breach of legislative procedure and constitutional provisions.
He urged the Speaker to direct that all relevant documents — including the harmonised versions, the Votes and Proceedings of both chambers, and the gazetted copies currently in circulation — be presented before the Committee of the Whole for examination by all members.
Dasuki warned that allowing laws at variance with those duly passed by the National Assembly to be presented to Nigerians would undermine public confidence in the legislature and amount to a violation of the Constitution.
“This is a breach of our laws and a breach of the Constitution. It should not be taken lightly by this honourable House,” he said.
In his response, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen said he had taken note of the Point of Privilege and assured the House that appropriate action would be taken to address the matter.
