FORMER Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned of an impending constitutional crisis following revelations that the gazetted version of Nigeria’s recently enacted tax laws does not reflect what was actually passed by the National Assembly.
Atiku described the development as illegal, unconstitutional, and tantamount to forgery, insisting that any law gazetted in a form different from what lawmakers approved is a nullity and has no legal force.
In a statement sent to News Point Nigeria by Atiku’s Media Aide, Paul Ibe late on Sunday, the former presidential candidate said the confirmation by the Senate that discrepancies exist between the passed tax bills and their gazetted versions raises grave concerns about the integrity of Nigeria’s legislative process.
“The confirmation by the Senate that the gazetted version of the Tinubu Tax Act does not reflect what was duly passed by the National Assembly raises a grave constitutional issue,” Atiku stated. “A law that was never passed in the form in which it was published is not law. It is a nullity.”
He explained that Nigeria’s Constitution clearly outlines the procedure for lawmaking and that no administrative process can substitute or correct a deviation from that process.
Citing Section 58 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Atiku noted that valid lawmaking requires passage by both chambers of the National Assembly, presidential assent, and only then publication in a government gazette.
“Gazetting is an administrative act of publication; it does not create law, amend law, or cure illegality,” he said. “Where a gazette misrepresents legislative approval, it has no legal force.”
The former Vice President also condemned any alteration of bills after passage by the legislature without returning them for reconsideration and approval, describing such actions as unlawful and criminal in nature.
“Any post-passage insertion, deletion, or modification of a bill without legislative approval amounts in law to forgery, not a clerical error,” Atiku declared. “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 warned against what he described as attempts to hurriedly re-gazette the tax laws without first addressing the underlying constitutional breach through proper legislative scrutiny.
“The attempt to rush a re-gazetting while stalling legislative investigation undermines parliamentary oversight and sets a dangerous precedent,” he said. “Illegality cannot be cured by speed. The only lawful path is fresh legislative consideration, re-passage in identical form by both chambers, fresh assent, and proper gazetting.”
He stressed that his position should not be misconstrued as opposition to tax reform, but rather a defence of constitutional order and democratic governance.
“This is not opposition to tax reform,” Atiku said. “It is a defence of the integrity of the legislative process and a rejection of any attempt to normalise constitutional breaches through procedural shortcuts.”
The former Vice President had earlier, last Tuesday, called for the immediate suspension and investigation of the disputed tax laws.
In a statement personally signed by him, Atiku described the alleged post-passage alterations as “illegal and unauthorised,” warning that they represent an assault on constitutional democracy.
“This overreach undermines legislative supremacy and reveals a government more interested in extraction than empowerment,” he stated.
Atiku urged the executive arm of government to suspend the implementation of the affected tax laws, called on the National Assembly to urgently rectify the alterations through lawful procedures, and appealed to the judiciary to strike down any unconstitutional provisions.