A civil society coalition, the Patriots, has pledged its support for the National Assembly’s decision to re-gazette the Tax Acts 2025, amid controversy over alleged alterations between the versions passed by parliament and those said to be in circulation within government agencies.
In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by its National Coordinator, Muhammad Dauda, the group said its independent review showed that the tax laws, as passed by the National Assembly, were intact and free of material discrepancies.
The intervention comes against the backdrop of growing public concern following claims that certain provisions of the newly enacted tax laws were modified after passage by the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The allegations sparked intense debate among stakeholders, including tax professionals, civil society groups and lawmakers, with fears that post-legislative alterations could undermine legislative authority and legal certainty.
In response, the House of Representatives recently resolved to probe the allegations and constituted an Ad-hoc Committee to examine the versions of the Tax Acts as passed by the legislature, the harmonised conference reports and the copies published in the Official Gazette.
The House also directed the Clerk to the National Assembly to make available Certified True Copies of the Acts to the public, as part of efforts to promote transparency and restore confidence in the legislative process.
Reacting to these developments, the Patriots expressed support for the leadership of the National Assembly, insisting that the authoritative versions of the laws remain the Votes and Proceedings of both chambers.
The statement read in part, “We, the Patriots, a coalition of civil society organisations committed to constitutional governance, the rule of law, and legislative accountability, wish to express our firm support for the leadership of the National Assembly regarding the decision to re-gazette the Tax Acts 2025.
“Recent public discourse has highlighted alleged discrepancies between the versions published in the Official Gazette and the Votes and Proceedings of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
“It is important to state clearly that the Votes and Proceedings of May 28, 2025 of the Senate and the House of Representatives constitute the authoritative records of the decisions of the National Assembly on these Acts.
“We are aware that these Votes and Proceedings were published as far back as May 29, 2025, and have been in circulation since then.”
According to the group, a careful comparison of the harmonised copies of the laws with the Votes and Proceedings and the conference reports revealed no substantive differences.
“We have taken our time to carefully go through the harmonised copies of these Acts and the Votes and Proceedings, as well as the Conference Reports.
“Interestingly, we are yet to see any material discrepancies in the records of the National Assembly.”
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