Constitution amendment bills on power to summon presidents and governors suffered another major setback as President Muhammadu Buhari has withheld his assent.
Buhari’s withholding of presidential assent to the Constitution alteration bill and 18 others became a source of concern to the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan on the floor of the Senate, Tuesday.
The President had last Friday, assented to 16 out of 35 Constitution alteration bills transmitted to him for assent by the National Assembly.
Drawing the attention of senators to the presidential action, Lawan stated that out of the 35 constitution alteration bill forwarded to the President in January for assent, only 16 have been assented to.
The most striking of the 16 bills assented to according to him, was the fifth alteration bill number 6 which makes provisions for the financial independence of State Houses of Assembly and Judiciary.
Others he added were those that dwell on power devolutions in the areas of moving Railway services, Correctional Centres, and power generation and distribution, from the exclusive list to the concurrent list.
He however indicated that the 19 bills that were not assented to by the President will still be pursued vigorously by both Chambers of the National Assembly for that purpose.
The first of such 19 bills not assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari was fifth alteration bill number 24, which sought for an Act to Alter the Second Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Empower the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly to summon the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Governors of States to answer Questions on issues on which the National and State Houses of Assembly have the Powers to make.
Also, alteration bill number 7 which sought for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to compel persons to obey or comply with Legislative Summons, was refused assent by the President.
Others are fifth alteration bill number 29 which sought for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to provide for a State of the Nation and State of the State Address by the President and Governor.
Fifth alteration bill number 22 which sought for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Specify the period within which the President or the Governor of State shall present the Appropriation Bill before the National Assembly or House of Assembly
Fifth alteration bill number 30 which sought for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Include Former Heads of the National Assembly in the Council of State.
Fifth alteration bill number 14 which sought for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to move Fingerprints, Identification and Criminal Records from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List.
Fifth alteration bill number 18 which sought for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Empower the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission to Enforce Compliance with Remittance of Accruals into and Disbursement of Revenue from the Federation Account and Streamline the Procedure for Reviewing the Revenue Allocation Formula.
Fifth alteration bill number 66 which sought for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Reflect the Establishment and Core Functions of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps etc.
*(Courtesy, excluding headline, The Guardian)
