The Senate has expressed surprise at the rejection by President Goodluck Jonathan of the amendments made to the 1999 Constitution by the National Assembly, action.
The president had on Monday vetoed the amendment on the grounds that it did not meet set requirement, especially the provisions of Section 9 (3) of the 1999 Constitution.
Section 9 (3) of the Constitution reads:
“An Act of the National Assembly for the purpose of altering the provisions of this section, section 8 or Chapter IV of this Constitution shall not be passed by either House of the National Assembly unless the proposal is approved by the votes of not less than four-fifths majority of all the members of each House, and also approved by resolution of the House of Assembly of not less than two-third of all states.”
The rejected amended constitution granted approval for the separation of the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation from that of Minister/Commissioner of Justice.
But Jonathan had queried the decision of the National Assembly to whittle down some Executive powers of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He also questioned some amendments which will give Executive powers and duties to the Legislature and the Judiciary.
Jonathan made his position known in a seven-page letter to Senate President David Mark and House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal.
After reading the letter accompanying the veto on the floor of the house by Senate President, David Mark, some members of the house expressed surprise at the reasons why the President vetoed the bill.
Reacting, Chairman, Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution (4th Alteration Bill 2015), Senator Ike Ekweremadu, announced that his members would hold a two-day retreat from Wednesday to Thursday to review the development.
However, the house did not debate the content of the letter as Mark held that every member of the house should have a copy of the letter before a proper debate can be held.
Differing on with the Senate President’s perspective, Senator Abubakar Yar’Adua insisted that the issue should be discussed as soon as possible, since a the reason pointed out by the president touches on the integrity of the Assembly.
“The President has raised very serious fundamental issues, especially in terms of our conscience as lawmakers and his own position as the chief executive officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. That is why I am raising this point or order,” Yar’Adua said.
Although Mark agreed with Yar’Adua that the letter should be extensively discussed, he maintained that the debate could only be meaningful after members would have studied the letter at home.
