…Oyedele maintained that rather than suspending the laws, any identified discrepancies should be isolated and addressed.
ABUJA, NIGERIA- The iNews Times | Taiwo Oyedele, the Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, has warned that postponing the implementation of the new tax laws beyond January 1, 2026, could have adverse consequences for workers and businesses.
Oyedele’s warning follows the controversy over alleged discrepancies between the tax bills passed by the National Assembly and the versions subsequently gazetted. A member of the House of Representatives, Abdulsamad Dasuki, had claimed that the gazetted laws differed from those debated and approved by lawmakers.
The concerns have triggered calls for the suspension of the laws’ implementation, with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi also urging caution.
However, speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, Oyedele argued that delaying implementation would worsen the burden on workers and businesses. He said failure to roll out the laws as scheduled would leave the bottom 98 per cent of workers overtaxed.
According to him, businesses would also lose out on key exemptions and continue to grapple with multiple taxation, while minimum taxes would remain in force for small and unprofitable enterprises. He added that hidden value-added tax would keep the cost of essential goods and services such as food, healthcare and education high.
Oyedele maintained that rather than suspending the laws, any identified discrepancies should be isolated and addressed.
“Even if it is established that there were significant changes to what the National Assembly passed, those provisions are not part of the law. The appropriate step is to implement the law as passed by the NASS while resolving how such alterations occurred,” he said.
