Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has referred to as for a recent legislative consideration of the Tinubu administration’s tax reform legal guidelines.
Atiku, in an announcement issued on Sunday night time, mentioned that is the one lawful path following affirmation by the Senate that the gazetted model of the Tax Act doesn’t replicate what was duly handed by the Nationwide Meeting.
The decision comes amid plans by the Federal Authorities to implement the remaining tax reform legal guidelines from January 1, 2026.
Atiku mentioned the difficulty raises a critical constitutional concern that can’t be resolved by way of administrative shortcuts or rushed re-gazetting.
What Atiku is saying
In response to Atiku, any regulation printed in a type that was by no means accepted by the Nationwide Meeting is legally invalid.
- He confused that below Part 58 of the 1999 Structure, the lawmaking course of requires passage by each chambers, presidential assent, and solely then gazetting.
- Atiku argued that gazetting is solely an administrative act and can’t amend, validate, or right a faulty regulation.
- He maintained that any post-passage insertion, deletion, or modification with out legislative approval quantities to forgery, not a clerical error.
“The one lawful path is recent legislative consideration, re-passage in equivalent type by each chambers, recent presidential assent, and correct gazetting,” Atiku mentioned.
Opposition to rushed re-gazetting
The previous Vice President criticised reported makes an attempt to fast-track a re-gazetting of the tax legal guidelines whereas legislative investigations into the alleged alterations are ongoing.
- In response to him, such an method undermines parliamentary oversight and units a harmful constitutional precedent.
- He warned that illegality can’t be cured by velocity or administrative directives from the management of the Nationwide Meeting.
- Neither the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, nor the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, he mentioned, has the authority to validate legal guidelines that weren’t correctly handed.
How the controversy emerged
The controversy started after members of the Home of Representatives alleged that the gazetted variations of some tax reform legal guidelines differed from the variations handed by the Nationwide Meeting.
The affected legal guidelines embrace the Nigerian Tax Act and the Nigerian Tax Administration Act, that are scheduled to take impact from January 1, 2026.
Following investigations, the Senate confirmed that discrepancies exist between what lawmakers accepted and what was gazetted, giving credence to the issues raised by the Home.
This affirmation has intensified requires corrective legislative motion.
Why this issues
The Tinubu administration’s tax reforms are a core a part of its financial agenda, aimed toward lowering the tax burden on low-income earners and small companies whereas enhancing long-term income by way of financial progress and higher compliance.
Nevertheless, unresolved constitutional flaws may expose the legal guidelines to authorized challenges and delay implementation.
Recent legislative consideration, as proposed by Atiku, may assist restore confidence within the reform course of, safeguard the rule of regulation, and scale back the danger of future court docket disputes.
Nevertheless, going this path would imply the federal government must defer the implementation of the legal guidelines.
What it is best to know
4 tax reform legal guidelines have been enacted below the Tinubu administration. Two of the legal guidelines took impact in June 2025, whereas two are scheduled for January 1, 2026.
Regardless of the controversies surrounding the 2 legal guidelines, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Coverage and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, informed journalists on Friday that the implementation will proceed as deliberate from January 1.
Oyedele welcomed the Home Committee’s engagement on the alleged alterations and mentioned the Federal Authorities was prepared to work with the Nationwide Meeting if any remedial motion is required.
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