Skip to main content

Immunity for Senate President, Speaker, Others, Rejected By Reps

The Special Committee on Amendment of the 1999 Constitution of the House of Representatives has rejected a bill seeking to confer immunity on judicial officers and on presiding officers of the National Assembly.

The National Assembly's presiding officers are the Senate President, the Deputy Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Deputy Speaker of the House.

The bill is titled, “An Act to alter Section 308 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 to extend immunity to cover presiding officers of the legislative institutions.”The bill is sponsored by Segun Odebunmi (APC, Oyo).

Segun Odebunmi, chaired the Committee that approved the suspension of Twitter by the Federal Government. He is also the sponsor of the controversial National Broadcasting Commission bill and the Nigerian Press Council bill.

At the public hearing on the bill yesterday, Abdulhamid Mohammed, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who is one of the consultants working with the committee, presented the position of the consultants to the lawmakers.

Mohammed said even though the bill allows citizens to seek leave of the court to sue any of the mentioned public officials, it will create a conflict of interest, particularly as it relates to the judicial officers. He noted that the bill did not indicate which court has the competence to hear such cases. He added: “The immunity is not absolute.

Speaking against the bill, Uzoma Abonta (PDP, Abia), said immunity should only cover issues regarding duties and functions of those public officers, not criminal acts like rape or murder.

He noted that even though there are examples of abuse of process by the executive against the legislature and judiciary, blank immunity is not acceptable.

Culled/Extract: The Guardian Nigeria 

Souce: Guardian


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Professor Isah Odidi, 16 Others Appointed As Directors By The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council

  Professor Isa Odidi and His Excellency the Waziri Adamawa, Atiku Abubakar. The Peoples Democratic Party Appoints Directors And Deputy Directors To Kick-Start Campaign.                                 Professor Isah Odidi, has been appointed as Director, Diaspora Group by the Campaign Organisation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). This appointment was contain in a Press Release on Thursday, October 06, 2022 issued by the Campaign Organisation’s Director-General and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal. Professor Isah Odidi, a distinguished pharmacist, an erudite scientist,  a technocrat and tireless researcher will indeed propagate the good virtues of the great party, the PDP and its Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the Diaspora.  Professor Odidi, has always asserted that Atiku  Abubakar is a unifier and the best candidate to move the Nigerian nation forward, ushe...

Video Update - Bianca Ojukwu And Willie Obiano's Wife Saga

The Internet is buzzing, there is a media uproar, the media outlets are now giving a clearer version of what happened between the former beauty queen and wife to the late warlord, Bianca Ojukwu and the wife of the former Governor of Anambra State Ebelechukwu Willie Obiano. Fresh stories indicate that Bianca Ojukwu initiated the slap. She slapped Willie Obiano's wife and it is not the other way round as earlier reported. The moment Bianca slapped Obiano’s wife during Soludo’s inauguration happened thus. The scuffle occurred on Thursday at the inauguration of Chukwuma Soludo as governor of the state. Soludo was sworn in at the government house in Anambra. Dignitaries, including Obiano, were already seated when Ebelechukwu Obiano, Willie Obiano's wife stood up from her seat and moved to where Bianca, widow of Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, was seated and spoke to her. Although Ebelechukwu was inaudible, the video showed how Bianca rose and gave her a slap, leading to a commotion. Whichever w...

You and Your Health - Alzheimer's breakthrough'

A study from Sweden which has found that a blood test can detect the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease, reports the BBC, while expansiating on it's report that;                   Image Credit: Scientific American   The Times says it could have "huge implications" for routinely screening the over-50s for their risk of the disease. The test - the paper reports - can detect the "proteins" which can cause Alzheimer's which build up in the brain for 10 to 15 years before symptoms start to show, and allowed researchers to assess how "likely" someone was to develop the disease. According to the Daily Express, the brand new diagnostic tool has been praised by experts as it may "ultimately bring us closer towards a cure for dementia". The Daily Telegraph takes the view the "simple and cheap method" can measure how likely people are to develop the illness up to 15 years before they show symptoms, citing research from the study.