Our Reporter, Abuja
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Sunday said the confirmation by the Senate that the gazetted version of the Tinubu Tax Act does not reflect what was passed by the National Assembly raises a serious constitutional concern.
In a statement, Atiku said any law published in a form different from what was duly passed by both chambers of the National Assembly is invalid.
“A law that was never passed in the form in which it was published is not law. It is a nullity,” he said.
He cited Section 58 of the 1999 Constitution, which outlines the legislative process as passage by the Senate and the House of Representatives, presidential assent, and subsequent gazetting. According to him, gazetting is only an administrative act of publication and cannot create, amend, or correct a law.
Atiku argued that where a gazette misrepresents what the legislature approved, it has no legal force. He added that any insertion, deletion, or modification of a bill after passage without legislative approval amounts to forgery under the law, not a clerical error.
He said no administrative action by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, could cure such a defect or justify a re-gazetting without the bill being re-passed by the National Assembly and receiving fresh presidential assent.
The former vice president also criticised what he described as attempts to rush a re-gazetting while legislative investigation is stalled, warning that such actions undermine parliamentary oversight and set a dangerous precedent.
According to the former Vice President, the only lawful solution is fresh legislative consideration, re-passage of the bill in identical form by both chambers, new presidential assent, and proper gazetting.
He stressed that his position was not opposition to tax reform but a defence of the integrity of the legislative process and a rejection of what he called efforts to normalise constitutional breaches through procedural shortcuts.
