ATIKU WARNS AGAINST HASTY RE-GAZETTING OF TAX LAWS, CITES GRAVE CONSTITUTIONAL RISKS
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By: Sefiu Ajape
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned against any move to hurriedly re-gazette the Tax laws, saying such action would weaken parliamentary oversight and establish a dangerous constitutional precedent.
His caution follows growing public and political scrutiny sparked by allegations that the tax laws signed by President Bola Tinubu were altered after their passage by the National Assembly.
During plenary, lawmakers, including Abdussamad Dasuki, raised concerns that the tax reform Acts approved by parliament differed significantly from copies circulating at the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation.
Dasuki cautioned that the alleged alterations carried serious legal and constitutional implications, stressing that they lacked any constitutional backing and could endanger Nigeria’s democratic order.
The Federal Government, however, has denied any wrongdoing, maintaining that the laws will come into force as planned on January 1, 2026.
Although no alterations were admitted, the National Assembly said that, “in the interest of clarity, accuracy, and the integrity of the legislative record,” “the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, had directed the Clerk of the National Assembly to re-gazette the Acts and issue Certified True Copies of the versions duly passed by both chambers.”
Reacting in a statement posted on X on Sunday, Atiku said the directive effectively confirmed “that the gazetted version of the Tinubu Tax Act does not reflect what was duly passed by the National Assembly,” describing the situation as one that “raises a grave constitutional issue.”
“A law that was never passed in the form in which it was published is not law. It is a nullity,” he said.
Atiku explained that Section 58 of the 1999 Constitution clearly spells out the lawmaking process, which involves passage by both chambers of the National Assembly, presidential assent, and only then gazetting.
He emphasised that gazetting is simply an administrative act of publication and “does not create law, amend law, or cure illegality.”
According to him, any gazette that misrepresents what was approved by the legislature has no legal force.
He further argued that any insertion, deletion, or modification of a bill after its passage, without legislative approval, amounts to forgery rather than a clerical mistake.
“No administrative directive by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, can validate such a defect or justify a re-gazetting without re-passage and fresh presidential assent,” Atiku said.
The former vice president warned that pushing ahead with a re-gazetting while delaying legislative investigation would undermine the authority of the legislature.
“The attempt to rush a re-gazetting while stalling legislative investigation undermines parliamentary oversight and sets a dangerous precedent. Illegality cannot be cured by speed,” he said.
He insisted that the only lawful path forward was “fresh legislative consideration, re-passage in identical form by both chambers, fresh assent, and proper gazetting.”
Atiku added that his stance was not an attack on tax reform but a defence of constitutional order.
“This is not opposition to tax reform. It is a defence of the integrity of the legislative process and a rejection of any attempt to normalise constitutional breaches through procedural shortcuts,” he said.
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