Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has urged the National Assembly to conduct a fresh passage of the recently enacted tax reform laws, describing the re-gazetting process as insufficient to resolve the legal and constitutional concerns surrounding their implementation.
In a statement, Atiku warned that discrepancies in the gazetted version of the law represent a “grave constitutional issue.” He stressed that any law published in a form differing from what was approved by lawmakers is effectively “a nullity.”
“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 serious constitutional problem,” Atiku said. “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: passage by both chambers, presidential assent, and only then gazetting. Gazetting is an administrative act; it does not create law, amend law, or cure illegality.”
Atiku further warned that post-passage insertions, deletions, or modifications without legislative approval amount to “forgery, not a clerical error.” He emphasized that “no administrative directive by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, or the Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, can validate such a defect or justify re-gazetting without re-passage and fresh presidential assent.”
He cautioned that attempts to rush the re-gazetting process while delaying legislative investigations “undermine parliamentary oversight and set a dangerous precedent.”
Atiku’s comments follow the National Assembly’s announcement that it would work with relevant ministries, departments, and agencies to re-gazette the tax reform laws.
The controversy was sparked earlier this month when House of Representatives member Abdussamad Dasuki highlighted discrepancies between the law passed by the National Assembly and the version published in the official gazette.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has also called for the suspension of the laws’ implementation pending a thorough investigation.
The tax reform laws, which faced resistance even before their passage, are scheduled to take full effect in January 2026. A gazette is an official government publication used to formally publish laws and other legal notices after they have been approved by the legislature and signed by the president.
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