Background
The Federal Government had on April 23 instituted a suit at the Supreme Court to nullify the proposed amendments to the 1999 Constitution. President Goodluck Jonathan had withheld his assent to the amendments to some sections of the document sent to him by the National Assembly.
In a seven-page letter to the Senate President, David Mark, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, the president queried the decision of the National Assembly to whittle down some executive powers of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He faulted some amendments which gives executive powers and duties to the legislature and the judiciary. Jonathan explained his position on the amendment and why he declined to sign the document into law.
“In view of the foregoing and absence of credible evidence that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Fourth Alteration) Act 2015 satisfied the strict requirements of Section 9(3) of the 1999 Constitution, it will be unconstitutional for me to assent to it,” the president said.
“I therefore withhold my assent and accordingly remit Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Fourth Alteration) Act 2015 to the Senate /House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
However, the National Assembly said after 30 days, it would override the veto of the president. But in an originating summon filed by a former Attorney General of the Federation, Bayo Ojo, on behalf of the incumbent AGF, Mohammed Adoke, the Federal Government posited that the purported Fourth Alteration Act 2015 passed by the federal legislature did not have the mandatory requirement of four-fifth majority of the legislature.
Source: Premium Times
No comments:
Post a Comment