Atiku Rejects Senate’s Attempt to Change Tax Law Without Proper Process

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has stated that an administrative order from the National Assembly leadership cannot make a defective tax law valid or justify re-gazetting it without going through re-passage and fresh presidential approval.

Atiku criticized the rush to re-gazette the law while blocking legislative investigation, saying it weakens parliamentary oversight and creates a dangerous precedent.

Reacting to the Senate’s admission that the gazetted version of the Tax Act does not match what the National Assembly actually passed, Atiku said, “Illegality cannot be cured by speed.”

He pointed out that the Senate’s confirmation of the mismatch in the Tinubu Tax Act raises serious constitutional concerns. He explained that a law published in a form different from what was passed is not a valid law but a nullity.

Atiku said, “Under Section 58 of the 1999 Constitution, the lawmaking process is straightforward and exclusive: passage by both chambers, presidential assent, and only then gazetting. Gazetting is an administrative act of publication; it does not create, amend, or repeal law. Where a gazette misrepresents legislative approval, it has no legal force.”

He added, “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 emphasized that rushing the re-gazetting while stalling investigation undermines the role of the legislature. He insisted the only legal way forward is to reconsider the law, pass it again in the same form by both chambers, get fresh presidential assent, and then gazette it properly.

He clarified, “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.”