The two chambers of the National Assembly – the Senate and the House of Representatives – will resume plenary today after about five weeks of the Christmas and New Year recess.
However, in line with parliamentary tradition, the lawmakers are expected to sit briefly and adjourn until Wednesday to honour the late senator representing Nasarawa North, Godiya Akwashiki, who died in December.
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Both chambers embarked on recess on 23 December 2025.
Before adjourning, lawmakers debated several national issues but were unable to conclude deliberations on some key matters.
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Tax reform laws
One of such issues was raised about a week before the recess by a member of the House of Representatives, Abdulsamad Dasuki (PDP, Sokoto), who alleged discrepancies between the tax laws passed by the National Assembly and the versions gazetted and made available to the public by the federal government.
The Acts involved are 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, all of which came into force on 1 January.
The House could not resolve the matter at the time and instead constituted a seven-member ad hoc committee to investigate it.
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The House minority caucus, led by the Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda, also constituted a separate committee to review the laws. The panel, which submitted its report last week, said it identified discrepancies in the Acts passed by the National Assembly and those gazetted by the government.
However, the House through its spokesperson, Akin Rotimi, rejected the caucus report, insisting that the official ad hoc committee had yet to conclude its assignment.
During the break, the lower chamber, in conjunction with the Senate, almost resolved the issue.
Addressing the report, however, Mr Agbese said the leadership of the House, under
Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, working with Senate President Godswill Akpabio, had released the authentic versions of the four Tax Reforms Acts as passed by the legislature and assented to by the president. They caused the publication of the Certified True Copies of the Acts.
Nevertheless, as plenary resumes, the ad hoc committee’s report is expected to be presented to the House for debate and resolution.
Constitution Review
Another major issue before the National Assembly is the review of the 1999 Constitution.
Both chambers had earlier constituted Constitution Review Committees, with the joint committee chaired by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin.
The committee has pledged to conclude the exercise in 2026.
Zonal public hearings have been held, and memoranda have been received from civil society organisations, professional bodies, and other stakeholders.
Proposals under consideration include the creation of additional states and local government areas, recognition of the Federal Capital Territory as a state, the establishment of state police or other state security agencies, the transfer of items from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List, and the provision for independent candidacy.
Other proposals seek to fix deadlines for the submission of annual appropriation bills by presidents and governors, and to reduce the period for authorising withdrawals from the Consolidated Revenue Fund without an approved budget from six months to three months.
Although the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, had promised in July last year that the amendments would be transmitted to state Houses of Assembly before the end of 2025, there are no public records confirming that this has been done.
Lawmakers are expected to continue the process and monitor approvals by state assemblies to ensure completion before the end of the year.
Electoral Act amendment
Amendment of the Electoral Act 2022 is also expected to feature prominently, particularly ahead of the 2027 general elections.
While the House of Representatives passed its version of the amendment bill in December, the Senate has yet to do so, as the bill remains at the committee stage despite a public hearing.
One of the key proposals seeks to make the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) non-compulsory for voting. The proposed amendment to Sections 18 and 47 says that since the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) does not rely on the PVC’s microchip, other forms of identification, such as the National Identification Number (NIN), international passport, or birth certificate, should also be acceptable for voting.
Another major proposal seeks to amend Section 60(5) to make the electronic transmission of election results mandatory, while Section 71(2) is proposed to criminalise the distribution of unstamped or unsigned ballot papers and result sheets.
The suggested penalty includes at least one year’s imprisonment, a fine of ₦1 million, or both, for any presiding or collation officer found guilty.
2026 budget defence sessions
Budget defence is another major activity expected as the plenary resumes.
President Bola Tinubu presented the ₦58.18 trillion 2026 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly on 19 December 2025. Tagged the “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity,” it proposes total expenditure of about ₦58 trillion and projected revenue of ₦34.33 trillion, with significant allocations to security, infrastructure, education and health.
Before the recess, the budget passed the second reading in both chambers and was referred to the appropriation committees. Heads of MDAs are expected to defend their allocations before the committees.
Upon completion, the committees will present their reports to the plenary. Historically, appropriation committees often recommend higher spending figures than those initially proposed by the president.
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