Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has queried alleged alteration of Nigeria’s tax laws after they were passed by the National Assembly and before they were signed into law by President Bola Tinubu.
Atiku, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), described the alleged “illegal and unauthorised alterations” as “a brazen act of treason against the Nigerian people and a direct assault on our constitutional democracy.”
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He said the changes amounted to a “draconian overreach by the executive branch” that undermines legislative supremacy in lawmaking, adding that it reflects a government “more interested in extracting wealth from struggling citizens than empowering them to prosper.”
According to him, substantive provisions were “illegally inserted into the tax bills after parliamentary approval, in clear violation of Sections 4 and 58 of the 1999 Constitution.”
The alleged alterations, Atiku said, include the introduction of new coercive powers without legislative consent, such as arrest powers for tax authorities, property seizure and garnishment without court orders, and enforcement sales carried out without judicial oversight.
He argued that these insertions effectively transform tax officials into quasi law-enforcement agents, stripping Nigerians of due process protections that lawmakers had deliberately built into the legislation.
Atiku further alleged that the tax laws were amended to include a mandatory 20 percent security deposit before appeals against tax assessments can be filed, the introduction of compound interest on tax debts, quarterly reporting requirements with lowered thresholds, and compulsory dollar-denominated computation for petroleum operations.
“These changes erect financial barriers that prevent ordinary Nigerians from challenging unjust tax assessments, while increasing compliance costs for businesses already struggling in a difficult economic environment,” he said.
He also accused the government of removing accountability mechanisms from the laws, including the deletion of quarterly and annual reporting obligations to the National Assembly, the elimination of strategic planning submission requirements, and the removal of ministerial supervisory provisions.
By stripping away these oversight mechanisms, Atiku said, the government had insulated itself from accountability while expanding its powers, describing the development as “a hallmark of authoritarian governance.”
He said the alleged constitutional violations exposed what he described as an obsession with imposing heavier tax burdens on impoverished Nigerians rather than creating conditions for economic growth through investments in infrastructure, education, healthcare and job creation.
Instead, he accused the Tinubu administration of choosing “the path of aggressive extraction from an already struggling populace.”
Atiku therefore called on the executive arm of government to immediately suspend the implementation of the tax laws, scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026, to allow for a full investigation.
He urged the National Assembly to urgently rectify the alleged illegal alterations through proper legislative procedures and to hold accountable those responsible for the constitutional breach.
He also called on the judiciary to strike down any unconstitutional provisions and reaffirm the sanctity of the legislative process, while urging civil society groups and Nigerians to reject what he described as an assault on democratic principles.
“The government must abandon this path of extraction and oppression and instead focus on policies that enable Nigerian citizens and businesses to thrive,” he said.
He also called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate and prosecute those allegedly involved in the illegal alteration of the laws.
“What the National Assembly did not pass cannot become law. This fundamental principle must be defended, or we risk descending into arbitrary rule where constitutional safeguards mean nothing,” Atiku said.