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. 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 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. Atiku Abubakar Vice President of Nigeria, 1999-2007.
