Former Nigerian vice-president and African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain Atiku Abubakar has accused the federal government of unlawfully altering key provisions of Nigeria’s newly enacted tax laws, and has called for their suspension and a full investigation before they come into force.
In a strongly worded statement on Tuesday, Atiku described the alleged post-legislative amendments as “illegal and unauthorised” and said they represented “a brazen act of treason against the Nigerian people and a direct assault on our constitutional democracy”. He claimed the changes took place after the National Assembly had approved the bills but before President Bola Tinubu signed them into law.
Atiku argued that the purported alterations constituted a serious breach of Sections 4 and 58 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, which govern how laws are made and enacted. He said this signalled a troubling expansion of executive power at the expense of the legislature’s constitutional role.
Among the changes Atiku highlighted were the introduction of new powers for tax authorities that he said lacked parliamentary approval. These included powers of arrest, the ability to seize property, garnishment without court orders, and carrying out enforcement sales without judicial oversight. According to Atiku, such provisions would effectively turn tax officials into law-enforcement agents and strip taxpayers of legal protections that lawmakers deliberately built into the legislation.
He also claimed the laws were amended to include financial requirements that could frustrate appeals against tax assessments. These included a mandatory 20 per cent security deposit before an appeal could be lodged, the introduction of compound interest on outstanding tax debts, and stricter quarterly reporting requirements with reduced thresholds. There were also allegations that petroleum tax calculations had been changed to require figures to be computed in US dollars.
Atiku said these measures risked erecting financial barriers for ordinary Nigerians and increasing compliance costs for businesses, particularly at a time when many are already struggling with economic hardship.
He further accused the government of removing key accountability mechanisms from the legislation. According to Atiku, the amended laws deleted requirements for quarterly and annual reporting to the National Assembly, eliminated strategic planning submission obligations, and removed provisions for ministerial oversight. He warned that stripping away these checks weakened democratic accountability and risked fostering authoritarian governance.
The former vice-president said the net effect of the alterations appeared to prioritise extracting more revenue from citizens rather than promoting economic growth through investment in infrastructure, education, healthcare and job creation.
Atiku has urged the federal government to suspend the implementation of the new tax laws, which are due to take effect on 1 January 2026, to allow for a comprehensive investigation. He also called on the National Assembly to correct the alleged illegal changes through proper legislative procedures and to hold those responsible to account.
In addition, Atiku appealed to the judiciary to strike down any unconstitutional provisions, and asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate and prosecute those allegedly involved in the unauthorised alterations. He also called on civil society and Nigerians at large to reject what he described as an attack on democratic norms.
“What the National Assembly did not pass cannot become law,” he said, emphasising the need to defend constitutional safeguards to prevent arbitrary rule.
