A high court in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory has refused to halt the federal government’s planned implementation of new tax laws scheduled to take effect on 1 January, ruling that it lacks the power to suspend legislation already signed into law without evidence of wrongdoing.
Justice Bello Kawu dismissed an ex parte application filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the African Initiative for Abuse of Public Trust, which sought to restrain the government from enforcing the new tax regime pending the resolution of legal challenges.
In a ruling delivered on 23 December and released on Wednesday, Kawu said the applicant failed to provide sufficient evidence to justify an interim injunction. He added that granting such an order would amount to pre-judging the substantive issues before the court.
“Once an Act is signed into law, it can only be repealed by the legislature or set aside by a court after full consideration,” the judge said, adding that an ex parte application could not be used to prevent an Act from coming into force.
Kawu ruled that the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 and related legislation would take effect from 1 January 2026 and remain in force pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit. The court adjourned further proceedings until 9 January 2026.
The group had asked the court to stop the implementation of four newly enacted laws, including the Nigeria Tax Act, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act and the Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Act, citing unresolved controversies surrounding their passage and gazetting.
Named as defendants were the federal government, the president, the attorney-general of the federation, the National Assembly, the Senate president and the speaker of the House of Representatives.
While declining to grant interim relief, the court approved substituted service of court papers. It ordered that documents for the federal government be served through the office of the attorney-general, while papers meant for the leadership of the National Assembly be served through the clerk of the legislature.
The ruling comes amid political opposition calls for a delay in implementing the tax laws and an ongoing parliamentary probe into alleged discrepancies between the versions passed by lawmakers and those officially gazetted.
