Guardian National Confab delegates seek death penalty for graft Wednesday, 02 April 2014 22:16 Written by Azimazi Momoh Jimoh and Terhemba Daka, Abuja Category: National david-mark• Senate moves to initiate new constitution AHEAD of the final report of the on-going national conference, the Senate Wednesday initiated fresh amendment to the 1999 Constitution to empower the President to propose an entirely new statute in place of the existing one. Accordingly, the Upper Chamber fixed voting on the new amendment for next Wednesday when every senator is expected to officially indicate his acceptance of the new amendment or otherwise. In a related development, delegates at the ongoing National Conference in Abuja have advocated the introduction of capital punishment in the country’s statute book in an amendment to address the challenges of corruption bedeviling the country. Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who is also chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, who presented the report of his committee to the Senate on the new amendment, explained: “The aim of this insertion is to make provision for the President in addition to the National Assembly to initiate the process of a new constitution. “The proposal seeks to amend Section 3b of Clause 2 of the Fourth Alteration Bill (Alteration of Section 9 of the Constitution), dealing with how a new constitution can be processed. (Recall that Section 9 as altered in the Fourth Alteration Bill provided for how a new constitution can come into being through the National Assembly.” He continued: “While awaiting the constitution of a conference committee to harmonise areas of difference with the House, the committee received additional requests which have very serious implication for the electoral process and the committee found it imperative and incumbent on it to take immediate legislative action. The objective of the additional proposal is principally to enhance and strengthen the legal frame-work for the processing of a new constitution, electoral process and connected institution in Nigeria.” Senate President David Mark announced that voting on the new amendments proposed to the 1999 Constitution would be done by the senators on Wednesday. “The President is not going to change the constitution. If he comes with a bill, then it is a bill from the Executive because we cannot prevent the Executive from presenting bills”, Mark argued. Ekweremadu urged his colleagues to expedite action on the report so as to produce a scheduled constitution for the 2015 poll. He explained that an amendment has been proposed to an earlier proposal for insertion of a new clause that empowers the National Assembly to introduce a “new constitution” to the effect that the President of the Federal Republic could introduce a new constitution to the country through the National Assembly using the report of the national conference. However, senators were sharply split on the matter as some opposed the idea of producing a totally new constitution because in their views, the current constitution never envisaged it. Senator Ahmed Lawan (APC, Yobe North) said: “The President, in addition to the National Assembly, cannot initiate the process of a new constitution. This is the exclusive preserve of the National Assembly. We must not dilute the functions of the Executive or that of the Legislature. I can concede that any President can send request and that is provided in the Constitution but when we say initiate, it is now taking some functions of the National Assembly and because of that, I oppose this proposal that we maintain the sanctity, the purity of the functions of the Executive and that of the Legislature in such a way that there is no lacuna and no confusion; so that in the nearest future, we don’t run into a constitutional crisis where the constitution amendment process will become neither here nor there. But Senator James Manager (PDP, Delta State) said: “An officer of the ranking of the President can also instigate it by writing to the National Assembly, presenting it as if it is an Executive Bill. It will still come to the National Assembly exactly in ways and manners we have been dealing with bills. So, there is absolutely nothing new in my humble view. These are very straightforward and unambiguous matters.” Senators Odion Ugbesia (Edo Central), Victor Lar (Plateau) and Ganiyu Solomon (Lagos West) were of the view that “the proposal is superfluous and should not be accommodated in the Constitution, as the current one could be amended to suit the times.” However, after other senators spoke for and against the move, attempts by Senator Ita Enang (Akwa-Ibom) to convince the Senate to stand down the Bill for further consultation was rejected by the Senate President. So, he voiced his support for the proposal, arguing that “it is not restrictive” but was aimed at opening the gate for more future legislations. Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba submitted that the proposal for a new constitution was not new, as it has been on the block since 2013 when Mark indicated that the National Assembly was contemplating on making a new Constitution for Nigeria and called for contributions from the general public on the premise that the National Assembly has no monopoly of wisdom. He further argued that power to make Constitution belongs to the people, and that the people should be allowed inputs through public hearing, as it is their rights. Other amendments proposed by Ekweremadu committee are: • Alteration of sections 68 and 109 to mandate the Clerk of the National Assembly and Clerk of the State House of Assembly to notify the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in writing within seven days of the existence of a vacancy arising from death, resignation or vacation of seat of a member of the National Assembly or a member of State House of Assembly, respectively (see: clause 2 and 3); • Alteration of sections 134 and 179 which aim to extend the time for conducting presidential and governorship re-run elections from seven days to 21 days - as contained in Clauses 4 and 5. • The empowerment of INEC to deregister political parties which fail to win presidential, governorship, chairmanship of a Local Government/Area Council or a seat in the National or State Assembly election; • The conferment of exclusive jurisdiction on the Federal High Court for trial of offences arising from, pertaining to or connected with violation of the provisions of the Electoral Act and any other election. • The Third Schedule is altered in Clause 8 to include former Senate Presidents and Speakers of the House of Representatives in the membership of the Council of State. Conferee Ben Duntoye representing National Youths Council of Nigeria who spoke at the resumption of session on the third day of looking at the content of President Jonathan’s speech, yesterday lamented the menace of corruption in Nigeria and stated that it must be confronted squarely in order to put the country back to its feet. Duntoye said the country must get it right, and that Nigeria needs a people’s constitution that will facilitate the fight against corruption head-on in order to kill it once and for all, arguing that “a situation where in both public and private institutions individuals steal billions of naira and still walk around freely will not augur well for the growth of the country.” “Is like killing the future of the youths in this country. The Nigerian youths are not asking for too much, capital punishment is key to fight corruption in Nigeria. There is also the need to look at the structure of government in this country. We have to look at the structure of government so that the excesses of government officials could be checked,” he added. Corroborating in their separate contributions, Rear Admiral C.S. Ehanmu and Maj.-Gen. Jeoffrey Ejiga bemoaned the insecurity situation in the nation, blaming the development on the challenge of corruption, poverty and unemployment of the teeming youths of the country. According to Ejiga, the menace which has eaten into the fabrics of the society must be tackled head on by the government by hanging corrupt officers in order to bring back the country to an enviable status in the comity of nations. In his submission, Ray Ekpu, representing the South-South geo-political zone, faulted the 1999 Constitution, which he said, has been fashioned to create a recipe for under-development. “This Constitution was inadvertently made for under-development, except we jettison it and decide to give more powers to the people who are nearer to the people, we will not go any further than we have gotten,” he said.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 03:46:11 +0000
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