Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the Federal Government of committing “treason against the Nigerian people” over alleged unauthorized alterations to the recently passed tax legislation, describing the actions as a direct assault on constitutional democracy and citizens’ economic rights.
In a statement, Atiku said, “The illegal and unauthorized alterations made to Nigeria’s tax legislation after passage by the National Assembly represent a brazen act of treason against the Nigerian people. It undermines legislative supremacy and reveals a government more interested in extracting wealth from struggling citizens than empowering them to prosper.”
He highlighted that the alleged changes, inserted without parliamentary consent, grant “new coercive powers” to tax authorities, including arrest, property seizure, and enforcement sales without judicial oversight.
“These provisions transform tax collectors into quasi-law enforcement agencies, stripping Nigerians of due process protections deliberately included by the National Assembly,” Atiku added.
The former Vice President also condemned the financial burdens imposed on citizens through the alterations, such as mandatory 20% security deposits for appeals, compound interest on tax debts, and forced USD computation for petroleum operations.
According to him, “These changes erect barriers that prevent ordinary Nigerians from challenging unjust assessments while increasing compliance costs for businesses already struggling in a difficult economy.”
Atiku further warned against the removal of accountability mechanisms, noting the deletion of quarterly and annual reporting obligations to the National Assembly, elimination of strategic planning submissions, and removal of ministerial supervision.
“By stripping away oversight, the government has insulated itself from accountability, a hallmark of authoritarian governance,” he said.
He called on the executive to suspend implementation of the law effective January 1, 2026, urged the National Assembly to rectify the illegal alterations, and demanded judicial intervention to strike down unconstitutional provisions.
Civil society and Nigerians, he said, must “reject this assault on democratic principles and demand governance that serves the people rather than exploiting them.”
Atiku stressed that true economic growth comes from empowering citizens, not imposing punitive taxation.
“Nigeria’s poverty rate remains alarmingly high, unemployment devastates families, and inflation erodes purchasing power daily. Yet, rather than supporting citizens to become productive, the government employs draconian measures to squeeze resources from people who have little left to survive,” he said.
The former vice president also called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to investigate and prosecute individuals culpable in the alleged forgery of the tax law.
“What the National Assembly did not pass cannot become law. This principle must be defended, or we risk arbitrary rule where constitutional safeguards mean nothing,” Atiku warned.
He concluded: “The Nigerian people deserve better than a government that circumvents democracy to impose hardship. We demand accountability, constitutional compliance, and economic policies that build prosperity rather than deepen poverty.”
