Atiku slams Tinubu’s tax reforms as “treason” over alleged post-passage forgery

Abdullateef Fowewe

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has unleashed a fiery condemnation on Tuesday, December 23, 2025, branding unauthorised changes to Nigeria’s newly passed tax reform laws as “an act of treason against the Nigerian people” and a “direct assault on our constitutional democracy.”

In a detailed statement shared on X, Atiku accused the executive branch of “draconian overreach,” alleging illegal alterations to the bills after National Assembly approval, in violation of Sections 4 and 58 of the 1999 Constitution.

He highlighted three key areas of concern: new coercive powers for tax authorities—like arrest without consent, property seizure, and enforcement sales sans court orders—“transform[ing] tax collectors into quasi-law enforcement agencies.”

Atiku also decried increased burdens on citizens, including a “mandatory 20% security deposit before appealing tax assessments,” compound interest on debts, and forced USD computations for petroleum operations, which he said erect “financial barriers that prevent ordinary Nigerians from challenging unjust assessments.”

Further, he pointed to the “removal of accountability mechanisms,” such as deleted reporting obligations to the National Assembly, warning it insulates the government from oversight in a move toward “authoritarian governance.”

“This constitutional violation exposes a troubling reality: a government obsessed with imposing ever-increasing tax burdens on impoverished Nigerians rather than creating conditions for prosperity,” Atiku wrote, amid soaring poverty, unemployment, and inflation.

He demanded the executive suspend implementation set for January 1, 2026, for investigation; the National Assembly to rectify changes and hold culprits accountable; the judiciary to strike down provisions; and civil society to “reject this assault on democratic principles.”