…Calls on NASS to initiate Impeachment Proceedings against President Tinubu
By Ola Kay
Erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP) and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze has described as embarrassing what he described as “disturbing perversion of the tax reform bill recently passed by the two arms of the National Assembly” to widen Nigeria’s tax base, regulate tax administration, boost revenue, and reduce dependence on borrowing.
According to the party chieftain, the irregularities was brought to light by Abdulsammad Dasuki, an opposition member of the House of Representatives from Sokoto State, who is of the stock of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The lawmaker lamented that the tax laws available to the public grossly differed in content from the versions passed by the Legislature.
Eze made allusion to the fact that Hon. Dasuki raised a Point of Order during plenary to the notice of Legislatures that his legislative rights had been breached, insisting that the content of the gazetted tax laws did not reflect the totality of what lawmakers debated, voted on and approved during plenary.
According to the party chieftain, the Lawmaker in question further hinted that after the passage of the tax bill, he spent three days reviewing the gazetted copies alongside the Votes and Proceedings of the House and the harmonised versions adopted by both chambers and discovered some insertions which were alien to the original draft bill that was passed.
Reacting to the development, erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze alleged by describing “the foreign insertions as depicting the evil referred to, in the biblical illustration in the parable of the weeds in Matthew 13:25, “When men slept, the enemy sowed tares.” After Lawmakers legislated on the draft bill and sent to President Tinubu for assent, in the thick of the night, while Lawmakers have retreated to slumberland and Nigerians deep in sleep, the President stealthily grabbed the document, tampered and distorted the law to suit his personal perspective of what a tax law should be.”
He further alleged that, ” since this embarrassment was made public, Senate President Godswill Akpabia, has disappointingly acted to sweep it under the carpet. He has denied Lawmakers access to the certified true copies of the bills.”
In his word, the alleged “restriction placed on lawmakers from accessing the certified copies bill by Sen. Akpabio has deepened suspicion and internal wrangling within the legislature.”
Chief Eze also alleged that, “the alteration perpetrated by the President is a criminal usurpation of the legislative process and the constitutional order which clearly calls for a serious, decisive legislative action against the President. It is heavy and should not be swept under the carpet.”
Such action, the APC Chief said, amounts to gross misconduct, abuse of office and violation of the constitution and should quickly trigger an impeachment proceedings against the President under the constitutional provisions governing executive accountability.
Any discrepancy between the enrolled bill and the passed bill is treated as a serious constitutional defect.
He argued that President Tinubu does not possess line-item amendment powers unless explicitly granted by the constitution. “And unfortunately, he does not have such powers under our laws, ” Eze said.
He expressed more concern over the development, saying that, “The business of law-making is the exclusive function of the legislature. Therefore by his action, the president has usurped legislative authority. And interferences of this nature are grave and collapse the constitutional boundary between the executive and legislature.
“It also sets a dangerous authoritarian precedent that clearly undermines democratic governance.”
Eze decried what he turned as the loud silence of the leadership of the National Assembly, noting that, as an arm that ought to serve as watchdog, “their docility amplifies the desperation of the Tinubu administration to swindle Nigerians out of their earnings without due process and leave a heavy legacy of poverty and impoverishment by the end of his tenure in 2027. These, Eze said, Lawmakers must not allow.”
Chief Eze concluded by calling for an impeachment proceeding to be commenced immediately against President Tinubu, citing a gross violation of the constitution and corruption of the legislative process which are obvious gross misconducts that require appropriate response from the legislature.
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