PORT HARCOURT/Nigeria: A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP), Chukwuemeka Eze, has condemned what he described as an embarrassing distortion of the recently passed tax reform law, warning that the controversy poses a grave threat to Nigeria’s constitutional order.
Eze was reacting to allegations raised by Abdulsammad Dasuki, an opposition member of the House of Representatives from Sokoto State, who disclosed during plenary that the tax laws made available to the public differed significantly from the versions debated and passed by lawmakers.
Raising a Point of Order on the floor of the House, Dasuki said his legislative rights had been breached, insisting that the gazetted tax laws did not reflect the full substance of what legislators considered, voted on and approved. He revealed that after the bill was passed, he spent three days comparing the gazetted copies with the Votes and Proceedings of the House as well as the harmonised versions adopted by both chambers, only to discover insertions he said were alien to the original draft.
Reacting to the claims, Eze described the alleged alterations as a dangerous subversion of the legislative process. He likened the development to the biblical parable of the weeds, arguing that after lawmakers had concluded their work and transmitted the bill for presidential assent, unauthorised changes were allegedly introduced under the cover of secrecy.
He further criticised the response of the leadership of the National Assembly, accusing Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, of attempting to sweep the matter under the carpet by denying lawmakers access to certified true copies of the enrolled bills.
According to Eze, restricting legislators from accessing certified copies has only deepened suspicion and fuelled internal tensions within the legislature, an institution constitutionally empowered to make laws and safeguard democratic governance.
The APC chieftain argued that any discrepancy between a bill passed by the legislature and the version presented for assent constitutes a serious constitutional defect. He maintained that the President does not possess line-item amendment powers under the Nigerian Constitution and, therefore, cannot lawfully alter legislation passed by the National Assembly.
He described the alleged action as a criminal usurpation of legislative authority, an abuse of office and a violation of the separation of powers, warning that such interference undermines democracy and sets a dangerous authoritarian precedent.
Eze also criticised what he termed the “loud silence” of the National Assembly leadership, stressing that the legislature has a duty to act as a watchdog and not succumb to executive pressure. He warned that failure to act decisively could enable policies that, in his view, would further impoverish Nigerians.
Calling for urgent action, Eze urged the National Assembly to commence impeachment proceedings against Bola Ahmed Tinubu, citing what he described as gross misconduct arising from the alleged corruption of the legislative process.
He insisted that the matter should not be trivialised, stressing that constitutional accountability demands a firm and transparent response from lawmakers to protect the integrity of Nigeria’s democratic institutions.
