Altered Tax Act Amounts to Forgery, Not Error — Atiku

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has raised serious constitutional concerns over what he described as discrepancies in the gazetted version of the Tinubu Tax Act, warning that any law published in a form different from what was passed by the National Assembly is legally invalid.

In a statement issued on Sunday via his official X handle, Atiku reacted to the Senate’s confirmation that the version of the tax law gazetted by the executive did not reflect what lawmakers approved.

He said the development “raises a grave constitutional issue,” stressing that “a law that was never passed in the form in which it was published is not law. It is a nullity.”

Atiku explained that the 1999 Constitution clearly defines how laws are made, noting that under Section 58, legislation must be passed by both chambers of the National Assembly, assented to by the President, and only then published.

According to him, gazetting is purely administrative and cannot correct or legitimise defects in the legislative process. “Gazetting does not create law, amend law, or cure illegality,” he said, adding that any gazette that misrepresents parliamentary approval “has no legal force.”

The former vice president rejected suggestions that the discrepancies could be treated as minor errors, arguing that any alteration after passage amounts to a serious offence.

“Any post-passage insertion, deletion, or modification of a bill without legislative approval amounts in law to forgery, not a clerical error,” Atiku stated.

He further noted that no directive from the leadership of the National Assembly could correct such a defect without following due process.

He also criticized reported efforts to hastily re-gazette the law while legislative scrutiny remains unresolved, warning that such actions weaken parliamentary oversight.

“Illegality cannot be cured by speed,” he said, insisting that the only lawful solution is to restart the process through fresh legislative consideration, re-passage by both chambers, renewed presidential assent, and proper gazetting.

Atiku clarified that his position was not an attack on tax reforms themselves but a defence of constitutional order.

“This is not opposition to tax reform,” he said, describing his intervention as “a defence of the integrity of the legislative process and a rejection of any attempt to normalise constitutional breaches through procedural shortcuts.”