ATIKU PUSHES FOR ‘FRESH PASSAGE’ OF TAX REFORM LAWS. (PHOTO).

 Atiku pushes for ‘fresh passage’ of Tax Reform Laws

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has faulted the National Assembly’s move to re-gazette the recently passed tax reform laws, saying a fresh passage is the solution to the crisis rocking implementation by January 1, 2026. 

Atiku, in a statement, described the discrepancy in the gazetted copy of the tax law as a “grave constitutional issue”. He noted that any law published in a form different from what was approved by lawmakers is “a nullity”.

“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,” Atiku stated.

“A law that was never passed in the form in which it was published is not law. It is a nullity. Under Section 58 of the 1999 Constitution, the lawmaking process is clear: passage by both chambers, presidential assent, and only then gazetting.

“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 added.