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.

“Gazetting is an administrative act; it does not create law, amend law, or cure illegality.” He warned that post-passage insertions, deletions, or modifications without legislative approval amount to “forgery, not a clerical error”.