Following the identified alterations to the original copies of the tax reforms laws, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called for a fresh passage of the Tax Reform Act.
Atiku, in a post on his X handle noted that 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.
According to him, “A law that was never passed in the form in which it was published is not law. It is a nullity.”
He contended that “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,” he said.
Atiku submitted that the attempt to rush a re-gazetting while stalling legislative investigation undermines parliamentary oversight and sets a dangerous precedent. Noting that 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 noted.
