By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The House of Representatives Minority Caucus Ad-hoc Committee on Tax Laws on the Allegations of Illegal Alterations on the Gazetted Tax Laws has released an interim report on its findings, accusing the executive arm of government of removing and inserting some items in the bills passed by the parliament.

The chairman of the 7-man panel, Mr Afam Victor Ogene, in the report released on Friday, said the laws were altered after they were transmitted to the executive by the National Assembly for assent by President Bola Tinubu.

Recall that a member of the green chamber of the parliament, Mr Abdulsamad Dasuki, raised an alarm on the discrepancies in the gazetted version and the one passed by the legislative arm of government.

The Minority Caucus of the House of Reps, headed by Mr Kingsley Chinda, in a statement on December 28, 2025, vowed to “unconditionally protect the independence of the legislature and our democracy.”

It then constituted the committee on January 2, 2026, to get to the roots of all the issues surrounding the scandal.

The next day, the lower chamber of the National Assembly, through its spokesman, Mr Akintunde Rotimi, released a statement announcing that the Speaker, Mr Abbas Tajudeen, had directed the release of the four tax reform Acts; The Nigeria Tax Act, 2025; The Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025; The National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025; and The Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, 2025, duly signed into law by the President, for public record, verification, and reference.

The statement further added that the Speaker has also ordered an internal verification and immediate public release of the Certified Acts to eliminate doubts, restore clarity, and protect the sanctity of the legislature.

In its report yesterday, the panel said it discovered some alterations in the gazetted version, noting that, “given the anomalies, illegalities, and impunity observed, which clearly undermine the National Assembly’s constitutional powers and democracy, the committee finds the current evidence sufficient to warrant a deeper investigation. This will ensure accountability for the affront against the legislature.”

“To achieve this, the committee respectfully requests an extension to conduct a more thorough examination of the matter,” it added.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The oil market soared by almost 3 per cent on Friday after US President Donald Trump made new threats against Iran, a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The price of the Brent crude futures went up by $1.82 or 2.8 per cent to $65.88 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $1.71 or 2.9 per cent to trade at $61.07 per barrel.

President Trump piled pressure on Iran through more sanctions on vessels that transport its oil and also said an American “armada” is heading towards the Middle East and that the US is monitoring Iran closely.

The US on Friday imposed sanctions on nine vessels and eight related firms involved in transporting Iranian oil and petroleum products.

Iran is OPEC’s fourth-biggest crude oil producer behind Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, producing about 3.2 million barrels per day.

It is also a major exporter to China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, which could face worries on top of higher prices for Venezuelan crude now that the US manages the exports of the South American nation.

Earlier this month, Mr Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on any country doing business with Iran in a bid to pressure the government in Tehran amid large-scale protests in the country.

The US President had pulled back from attacking Iran two weeks ago, despite promising “help is on its way”, but was also urged to hold back by the Gulf states, who warn that any action may destabilise the tense region.

However, the US is now sending “a lot of ships going that direction, just in case,” President Trump said as he returned from the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Additional air defence systems are being deployed, most likely around US and Israeli airbases. The United Kingdom said it would send RAF Eurofighter Typhoon jets from 12 Squadron to Qatar, at its request.

The escalating pressure has caused concerns of oil supply disruptions in the Middle East.

Also boosting prices, Kazakhstan, an OPEC ally, has been struggling to resume output from one of the world’s largest oilfields. Chevron  said oil output at the Tengiz oilfield has yet to resume after Chevron-led operator Tengizchevroil announced a shutdown on Monday following a fire.

Market analysts at JP Morgan said on Friday that Tengiz, which accounts for nearly half of Kazakhstan’s production, could remain offline for the rest of the month and that Kazakhstan’s crude output is likely to average only 1 million to 1.1 million barrels per day in January, compared with a usual level of around 1.8 million barrels per day.

By Dipo Olowookere

The equity market rebounded by 0.07 per cent on Friday after spending a night at the bears’ territory due to selling pressure from investors rebalancing their portfolios.

Yesterday, the bulls resurfaced despite investor sentiment remaining weak, indicating that the gains remain fragile, as the bears could still stage a comeback.

It was observed that the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended the last trading session of this week with 33 price gainers and 39 price losers, implying a negative market breadth index.

Morison Industries led the advancers’ chart with a 9.94 per cent growth to sell for N7.52, Union Homes REIT also gained 9.94 per cent to close at N71.35, SCOA Nigeria appreciated by 9.93 per cent to N23.80, RT Briscoe improved by 9.93 per cent to N5.98, and Austin Laz jumped by 9.78 per cent to N4.49.

On the flip side, Neimeth lost 9.86 per cent to settle at N13.25, Secure Electronic Technology declined by 9.35 per cent to 97 Kobo, Eterna fell by 8.23 per cent to N28.45, University Press crashed by 6.25 per cent to N6.00, and Eunisell slumped by 5.84 per cent to N153.95.

Business Post reports that the busiest stock on Friday was Chams with 76.9 million units sold for N387.4 million, Secure Electronic Technology transacted 68.0 million units worth N66.7 million, Zenith Bank exchanged 49.2 million units valued at N3.5 billion, Zichis traded 48.8 million units for N127.9 million, and Fidelity Bank sold 39.6 million units worth N758.2 million.

At the close of trades, 731.7 million units of shares valued at N19.1 billion were transacted in 44,005 deals yesterday compared with the 768.3 million units of shares worth N21.2 billion traded in 46,481 deals on Thursday, indicating a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 4.76 per cent, 9.91 per cent, and 5.33 per cent, respectively.

Data revealed that the commodity index was flat during the trading day, while the insurance and the consumer goods indices went down by 0.42 per cent, and 0.31 per cent apiece.

However, the industrial goods space expanded by 0.55 per cent, the banking counter rose by 0.31 per cent, and energy sector grew by 0.01 per cent.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 114.81 points to 165,512.18 points from 165,397.37 points and the market capitalisation gained N73 billion to finish at N105.959 trillion compared with the previous day’s N105.886 trillion.