Atiku Urges National Assembly To Reconsider, Repass Tax Bills

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has stated that an administrative directive by the National Assembly leadership cannot validate the defect or justify a re-gazetting of the Tax Law without re-passage and a fresh presidential assent.

Atiku said the attempt to rush a re-gazetting of the law while stalling legislative investigation undermines parliamentary oversight and sets a dangerous precedent.

The former vice president, in a statement reacting to the Senate’s confirmation that the gazetted version of the Tax Act does not reflect what was duly passed by the National Assembly, said illegality cannot be cured by speed.

Atiku stated that the Senate’s confirmation that the gazetted version of the Tinubu Tax Act does not accurately reflect what was duly passed by the National Assembly raises a grave constitutional issue.

He stated that a law that was never passed in the form in which it was published is not a law, but a nullity.

He 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.

“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.

“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. The only lawful path is fresh legislative consideration, re-passage in identical form by both chambers, fresh assent, and proper gazetting.

“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.