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By Chukwudi Abiandu

What is unfolding around the alleged alteration of a duly passed Act of the National Assembly is not merely an administrative lapse or a clerical error. It is a grave democratic infraction, an audacious subversion of constitutional order, and a scandal that strikes at the very heart of Nigeria’s fragile democracy.

That a law debated, amended, harmonised, passed by both chambers of the National Assembly and assented to by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu could later surface in multiple altered versions is nothing short of alarming. Even more disturbing is the eerie silence of the Tinubu administration in the face of an allegation so weighty it should ordinarily provoke an immediate presidential response.

This silence is not neutral. It is dangerous.

Hon. Victor Afam Ogene, Chairman of the seven member committee Minority Caucus and head of the investigative panel, did not mince words when he described the situation as “executive rascality.” And rightly so. The legislative process is not a suggestion box for overzealous officials in the executive arm to tinker with at will. It is a constitutionally defined process with clear safeguards. Once the National Assembly has spoken and the President has assented, no one, absolutely no one, has the legal authority to rewrite the law in the shadows.

If indeed officials within the executive arm altered a law after assent and caused the doctored version to be gazetted, then what Nigeria is dealing with is not policy disagreement but criminal conduct—forgery, abuse of office, and a direct assault on constitutional governance.

The implications are severe. First, this episode further erodes public trust in the Tinubu-led APC federal government. At a time when Nigerians are already grappling with economic hardship, policy shocks, and a crisis of confidence in governance, this scandal reinforces the perception of a government willing to cut corners and bend the law to force through unpopular policies.

Second, Nigeria’s international reputation takes another hit. A country where laws can be secretly altered after presidential assent signals to investors, partners, and the global community that institutional integrity is optional and that the rule of law is negotiable. No serious democracy survives such a reputation.

Third, and perhaps most troubling, is the desperation surrounding the tax system at the centre of this controversy. Nigerians have loudly and repeatedly rejected this tax framework. Civil society groups, labour unions, professionals, and ordinary citizens have all raised red flags. Yet instead of listening, reviewing, or withdrawing the policy, some officials allegedly chose a more sinister route: tampering with the law itself to smuggle in rejected provisions.

Why this desperation? Why the determination to impose a tax regime Nigerians have overwhelmingly decried? Why the audacity to alter what elected representatives explicitly refused to approve? These are questions President Tinubu must answer, not through aides, not through silence, but through decisive action.

If this alteration occurred without his knowledge or consent, then the President owes Nigerians a clear, unequivocal statement distancing himself from the act. More importantly, he must order the immediate identification, investigation, and prosecution of those responsible. Anything less would amount to tacit endorsement.

This is not a partisan issue. It is not about APC versus opposition. It is about the sanctity of law, the credibility of governance, and the survival of democratic norms. If laws can be altered after passage today, then no Act of Parliament is safe tomorrow. Democracy itself becomes a hollow ritual.

Nigeria cannot afford to normalise this level of lawlessness. The President must act, swiftly, transparently, and decisively, or risk allowing this scandal to define his administration as one under which laws were not only harsh, but hijacked.

Silence, in this case, is not golden. It is complicity.