The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has written to President Bola Tinubu, urging him to direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, to publicly release certified true copies (CTCs) of recent tax bills received from the National Assembly and the tax laws eventually signed and gazetted by the Federal Government.
In a Freedom of Information request dated December 20, 2025, and signed by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Mr. Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation requested the publication of CTCs of four key legislations: the National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act; the Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Act; the Nigeria Tax Administration Act; and the Nigeria Tax Act.
SERAP also asked the President to clarify whether the versions of the tax bills transmitted by the National Assembly are identical to those signed into law and subsequently gazetted, amid allegations of discrepancies between the documents.
The organisation further called on President Tinubu to urgently establish an independent panel of inquiry to investigate claims that material alterations were made to the tax laws after their passage by the National Assembly. According to SERAP, the panel should be independent, impartial and transparent, and be headed by a retired Justice of the Supreme Court or Court of Appeal. Its findings, SERAP said, should be made public, while anyone found responsible for any unlawful alterations should be prosecuted.
SERAP argued that widely publishing certified copies of the bills and laws would allow Nigerians to scrutinise the legislations, compare them with the gazetted versions and assess their consistency with constitutional provisions and human rights standards.
“The alleged unlawful alterations of the tax laws would offend the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), international human rights law, and the fundamental principles of the rule of law and separation of powers,” the organisation stated.
SERAP noted that the National Assembly had recently raised concerns over alleged discrepancies between the harmonised tax bills passed by both chambers and the versions gazetted by the Federal Government. A Sokoto lawmaker, Mr. Abdussamad Dasuki, reportedly drew attention to the issue under a matter of privilege, alleging that substantive provisions were inserted, deleted or modified without legislative approval.
According to SERAP, the National Assembly maintained that some oversight, accountability and reporting mechanisms approved by parliament were removed in the final Acts, while new coercive and fiscal powers—such as arrest powers, garnishment without court order and mandatory appeal security deposits—were allegedly introduced without approval.
The organisation cited Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution, the Freedom of Information Act, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as guaranteeing Nigerians’ right to access information and imposing transparency obligations on government.
SERAP warned that it would take appropriate legal action to compel compliance should the government fail to respond within seven days of receiving the letter, stressing that its request was made in the public interest and in line with constitutional and international legal obligations.
