Subject: The Tax Reform Act — Process Failure, Credibility Crisis, and the Imperative of Public Accountability

By Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili

As a practitioner in economic policy, I am naturally disposed to support tax reforms that strengthen growth, equity, fiscal sustainability, and state capacity—without compromising core principles of taxation or the credibility and legitimacy of the lawmaking process.

Unfortunately, the Nigerian Tax Reform Act—as currently handled—suffers a deficit of both policy coherence and process credibility.

What should have been a confidence-building, growth-enhancing reform has instead become a source of confusion, distrust, and resistance—driven largely by process failure, policy incoherence, and political tone-deafness.

The gazetting controversy is an assault on constitutional democracy

All actions so far taken by the Executive and Legislative branches regarding the gazetting of a wrong version of the recently passed and assented Tax Reform Act constitute a grave threat to constitutional governance and must be halted.

The version that was gazetted reportedly contains constitutionally troubling provisions that raise serious concerns, including:

• provisions lacking clear, traceable legislative origin;

• expansions of administrative discretion that weaken taxpayer protections; and

• federalism and legality issues that demand immediate clarification.

Stop, rescind, and reset the process in the public interest

I call on the Executive and Legislature to prioritize the public interest and immediately:

1. Terminate and rescind all steps taken on the wrong gazetted version;

2. Suspend implementation of any version pending a credible resolution; and

3. Restart transparently, returning to the Legislature for a renewed process that begins from the Public Hearing stage, so Nigerians can see, test, and trust the text that will govern them.

Accordingly, the @NGRPresident @officialABAT should announce an immediate postponement of implementation of whatever version is currently being treated as the operative Tax Reform Act, until the integrity of the legislative text is resolved beyond doubt.

“Re-gazetting” without investigation is not accountability

Gazetting a wrong Bill as an Act is prima facie unlawful and potentially unconstitutional. If the wrong version was knowingly substituted or altered, then it may also implicate serious criminal liability.

It is therefore deeply troubling that the National Assembly appears to have proceeded by merely instructing a “re-gazetting” of the “right version” without a transparent, independent inquiry into how this happened.

That approach does not meet democratic standards. It compounds the harm. Nigeria is not a personal grocery shop

The Executive and Legislative branches must stop running Nigeria like a personal grocery shop where rules are bent, processes are improvised, and the public is asked to accept “corrections” without accountability.

This pattern of the Executive and Legislature acting in ways that negate democratic norms of public accountability while ignoring public outcry cannot continue.

A functioning democracy requires that when something this significant goes wrong, government triggers a system check: review, investigation, evaluation, and full disclosure.

Public accountability is to good governance what water is to fish. Nigerians deserve the full facts: error or forgery?

Nigerians deserve to know: How did a wrong version come to be gazetted in the first place?

I join many citizens demanding a transparent, independently constituted probe to establish whether this was:

• an innocent administrative error; or

• a deliberate act of document substitution—i.e., officials knowingly causing a text to be published as an Act of the National Assembly when it was not the text duly passed.

If any alteration or substitution was done with intent to deceive, the public deserves to know:

• who altered or substituted the authentic text;

• who authorised it or knew about it; and

• what safeguards failed—and why.

What should happen on January 1, 2026

The proper and only thing that should commence on January 1, 2026 is an Inquiry Process that will:

1. Establish the factual divergence between the authentic legislative text and the gazetted text;

2. Identify the point(s) of alteration/substitution in the chain of custody;

3. Determine who authorised, enabled, or had knowledge of it;

4. Assess intent, recklessness, or gross negligence; and

5. Apply appropriate administrative sanctions and, where warranted, criminal liability.

Nigeria cannot build a credible tax system on a credibility crisis.

A tax reform that lacks legitimacy will not command voluntary compliance. A democratic government that evades accountability cannot deliver good governance.

This must be stopped. The facts must be established. The process must be reset.

Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili ,Founder, SPPG- School of Politics, Policy and Governance

December 30, 2026

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