For the last time, let me address some data boys who keep talking about a so called “House of Reps version” of the tax bill, as if its separate from that of Senate and the harmonised version, they are either ignorant of how this particular bill was passed or... are deliberately misleading the public! Yes, under normal circumstances, a bill is debated independently on the floors of the House of Representatives and the Senate. That is the standard legislative procedure that the data boys keep explaining. But the tax bill did not follow that route, precisely because of how sensitive, heated, and contentious it was. In this case, the leadership of the National Assembly adopted an unusual but deliberate approach. 40 senators and 40 members of the House of Representatives were nominated, with each state represented by one senator and one rep member, minimum. These 80 lawmakers spent a full week at the Hilton Hotel, with logistics sponsored by FIRS, jointly harmonising the tax bill line by line. At the end of that exercise, there were no parallel House or Senate versions. Both chambers were presented with the same single, harmonised tax bill. That identical document was laid before the House of Representatives and the Senate, debated, and passed by both chambers. This was the version transmitted to the president and subsequently assented to. Traditionally, harmonisation comes after each chamber has passed its own version. That did not happen here. Lawmakers worked together from the outset to produce one unified bill, and that is what was approved. There is no “House version” separate from that of the Senate, in this case. It simply does not exist. The real issue is that this harmonised version, the one passed by both chambers and signed by the president, is not what appeared in the gazetted copy made public. That gazetted version contains alterations that were never approved by the National Assembly. On Thursday, 18 December 2025, after Hon. Abdulsamad Dasuki raised the alarm on the floor of the House. The speaker announced the setting up of a committee and gave it one week to report. On the surface, this sounded reasonable. In reality, it was a convenient way of pushing the issue under the carpet. The National Assembly proceeds on its end of year break tomorrow, Tuesday, with the committee’s report due next Thursday, which is after they've gone on break. By the time lawmakers reconvene in January, the tax law would already be in force, and the opportunity for meaningful legislative correction would have slipped away. What is most telling is the silence from the presidency and from Taiwo Oyedele and his team. They have chosen not to address this issue at all, not because it is insignificant, but because they do not want to go on record. If no forgery occurred, setting the record straight should be straightforward. They have done so before on issues far less serious than this. Sections 4 and 58 of the Constitution vest law-making power solely in the National Assembly. Any provision inserted, removed, or altered after passage is unconstitutional, void, unenforceable, and constitutes a clear breach of the separation of powers doctrine! This issue will not be swept under the carpet, and no one will succeed in shutting people up! Listen to Hon Falake on the harmonization issue!show more

Peacock

311,551 subscribers

Paylaş İndir