Senate confirmation of tax bills alterations makes Tinubu’s planned implementation illegal – Atiku
*Says any post-passage modification of a bill without legislative approval is forgery
By KEMI KASUMU
“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.”
If President Bola Ahmed Tinubu makes good his vow to implement his controversial tax law on January 1, 2026, doing so will have been clear violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which he signed an oath to protect, defend and be loyal to.
This explains the position of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who said 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 Atiku, in a tweet via his X handle on Sunday December 28, 2025, “A law that was never passed in the form in which it was published is not law. It is a nullity.”
Alhaji Atiku, who is a leader of opposition coalition’s African Democratic Congress (ADC), made bold to assure Tinubu what his infractions of the Constitution are and how he cannot escape the consequences of such misdeed.
“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.
“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,” said the former Vice president.
Recall that The DEFENDER Newspaper has on Saturday December 27, 2025 reported a call on the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu if allegations that he signed into law tax bills different from those passed by the legislature are proven to be true.
The call was made by a chieftain of the opposition coalition’s African Democratic Congress (ADC), Lauretta Onochie, in a statement shared on her verified Facebook page.
Onochie argued that any deliberate alteration of bills passed by the National Assembly before presidential assent would amount to treason against the Nigerian state and must not be ignored by lawmakers.
According to her, the legislature has a constitutional duty to act decisively once there is clarity that the 2025 tax laws signed by the president differ from what were duly passed by the National Assembly.
