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

Post a Comment

Type your comments here

Popular posts from this blog

Presidential Election Tribunal-Kenneth Okonkwo, others Represent Peter Obi

Prolific Nollywood actor and spokesperson for the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Kenneth Okonkwo, has revealed via a post on his Twitter page, the lawyers that will be representing the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in the court of appeal. Kenneth Okonkwo Kenneth Okonkwo said; “We have a formidable team of legal luminaries representing #PeterObi. From left is the head of the team, Livy Uzoukwu SAN, Awa Kalu SAN, Benbella Anachebe SAN, Kenneth Okonkwo Esq and a host of other experienced lawyers. May God grant us the wisdom to recover the people’s mandate.” The pre-hearing of petitions challenging the outcome of the February 25 presidential election commences today at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal.
Post a Comment
Read more

Prince Charles, Prince Of Wales, Reportedly Accepted Suitcase With 1 Million Euros From Qatari Sheikh

A British newspaper, the Sunday Times, reported the Prince of Wales once accepted a suitcase containing €1 million ($1.05 million) in cash from a Qatari politician. The paper says this was one of three cash donations from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim totalling three million euros. The suitcase containing €1 million in cash was one of three lots of cash he personally received, totaling €3 million, from former Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani between 2011 and 2015.  The Sunday Times reported on one occasion, Sheikh Hamad gave Prince Charles €1 million reportedly stuffed into carrier bags from the upmarket London department store, Fortnum and Mason. On another occasion, Prince Charles accepted a duffel bag containing €1 million during a private one-on-one meeting at Clarence House in 2015, the Sunday Times reports. The Sunday Times reports the payments were deposited into the accounts of the Prince of Wales's Charitable Fund (PWCF), an entity that bankrolls ...
1 comment
Read more

Ghana's Afua Asantewaa Sing-A-Thon

Ms Afua Asantewaa, Ghanaian media personality has completed a five-day singing marathon. Afua Asantewaa Wrapped in her country's flag, she thanked the crowd of supporters in the capital, Accra, for their immense support, in hopes her performance will earn her a Guinness World Record. Beginning on Christmas Eve, Asantewaa performed for 126 hours and 52 minutes. Beating a previous sing-a-thon record by nearly 24 hours, the clearly exhausted, 33-year-old could barely remember what day it was. According to the rules set by Guinness World Records she was allowed a five-minute break every hour, or 20 minutes after four hours. She now has to wait to see if her effort will be officially recognised.  Some of the country's biggest music stars, were there on Christmas day to cheer her up, they included, Stonebwoy, Shatta Wale and Sarkodie. Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia also came along plus a host of actors, actresses and influencers. They heard Ms Asantewaa cycle through 125 songs picke...
Post a Comment
Read more