Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Bola Tinubu to “urgently direct Mr Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to widely publish a certified true copy of the version of the tax bills received from the National Assembly and a certified true copy of the tax laws signed by the president.”
The documents requested by SERAP are: 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 urged him to “urgently establish an independent panel of inquiry to promptly, independently, impartially, transparently and effectively investigate the allegations that there are material differences between the tax bills passed by the National Assembly and the tax laws ultimately gazetted by the Federal Government.”
SERAP said, “the alleged unlawful alterations of the tax laws would offend the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] the requirements of international human rights law, and the fundamental principles of the rule of law and separation of powers.”
“This means that any passed bills and signed laws must be accessible, authentic, intelligible, clear, legitimate, and predictable so that people can know and comply with them.”
“Widely publishing the certified true copies of the tax bills passed by the National Assembly and the tax laws signed by the President and the gazetted versions would also allow Nigerians to identify if the provisions of the laws are consistent with their human rights, and seek effective remedies to challenge any infractions of the rights.”.”
“The National Assembly established that substantive provisions were inserted, deleted, or modified after passage by both chambers. Several oversight, accountability, and reporting mechanisms approved by parliament were reportedly removed in the final Acts. New coercive and fiscal powers (e.g., arrest powers, garnish without court order, compulsory USD computation, appeal security deposits) were also reportedly inserted in the final Acts without legislative approval.”
“Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution, article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantee the right to seek, receive and impart information.”
“The Nigerian Constitution, Freedom of Information Act, and the human rights treaties rest on the principle that citizens should have access to information regarding their government’s activities.”
