Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that the altered tax law that is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026 remains a nullity.
TheHintsNews reports that the tax law has been a subject of controversy following allegations that the law that was passed by the National Assembly was at variance with the one that was gazetted.
However, Atiku in a statement issued Sunday said the confirmation by the Senate that the gazetted version of the Tinubu Tax Act did not reflect what was duly passed by the National Assembly raises a grave constitutional issue.
He added: “A law that was never passed in the form in which it was published is not law. It is a nullity.
“Under Section 58 of the 1999 Constitution, the lawmaking process is clear and exclusive: passage by both chambers, presidential assent, and only then gazetting.
“Gazetting is an administrative act of publication; it does not create law, amend law, or cure illegality. Where a gazette misrepresents legislative approval, it has no legal force.
“Any post-passage insertion, deletion, or modification of a bill without legislative approval amounts in law to forgery, not a clerical error.
“No administrative directive by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, or the Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, can validate such a defect or justify a re-gazetting without re-passage and fresh presidential assent.*
Atiku maintained that the attempt to rush a re-gazetting while stalling legislative investigation undermines parliamentary oversight and sets a dangerous precedent.
He stressed that illegality cannot be cured by speed, saying “only lawful path is fresh legislative consideration, re-passage in identical form by both chambers, fresh assent, and proper gazetting.”
Atiku said this is not opposition to tax reform, but a defence of the integrity of the legislative process and a rejection of any attempt to normalise constitutional breaches through procedural shortcuts.