Constitution amendment: Senators, Presidency head for showdown

As the Presidency drags the National Assembly to the Supreme Court seeking an order to nullify all the proposed amendments to the 1999 constitution, majority of senators said yesterday that they were ready to meet the presidency in court.

Members of the House of Representatives on their part insisted that the lawmakers met the constitutional requirements on the process.

President Goodluck Jonathan meantime has asked the Senate President, David Mark and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal to halt moves by members of the National Assembly to go ahead with the constitution amendment process.

The senators who reacted to the suit filed by the president to nullify the amendments carried out on the constitution promised to apply for an accelerated hearing when the National Assembly is served with court processes so that the matter would be dispensed with before the end of the 7th senate.

Besides, the senators said as they were waiting to be served the court processes, the Presidency should return the original copy of the bill sent to it.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Ita Enang, Akwa Ibom North East, said the decision of the Presidency to challenge the constitution amendment in court was a good development.

He also said that the action of President Goodluck Jonathan was an indication that he (Jonathan) was a patriotic Nigerian interested in the good of the country.

He, however, faulted the time it took the Presidency to raise objection to certain aspects of the amendment, stressing that it would be the duty of the court to determine whether the National Assembly followed the required legal procedure in the amendment process.

The Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, SAN, said it was regrettable that the Presidency had taken the present path, even when it had the opportunity, during the public hearing, to raise any objections on the amendment for the purpose of engagement.

On what happens to the letter to the Presidency for a return of the original copy of the bill, Senator Ndoma-Egba said the senate still expected the original copy of the bill.

Senator Umaru Dahiru, Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, said there was nothing wrong with the Presidency going to court.

He said: “The implication is that; the constitution is very clear, if you do not agree with anything, either the National Assembly or the federal government can take either one to court. And in case the Supreme Court says otherwise, we have to comply.

“It is checks and balances, that is the beauty of this democracy; if you go beyond your limit and if you think you are right, we go for interpretation. If the President feels the procedure is technically wrong, then he can seek interpretation which he wants now.

Source: Vanguard