Controversy hits constitution amendment process

By Festus Owete, June 6, 2010 11:54PM

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Usman Nafada, has hinted of a fresh controversy dogging the just-concluded review of the 1999 Constitution.

Mr. Nafada, in a meeting with journalists in Abuja at the weekend, said the National Assembly Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 constitution is divided over whether the amended document should be forwarded to President Goodluck Jonathan for his assent after its endorsement by state legislatures.

The deputy speaker, who chaired the House ad-hoc committee that reviewed the constitution, said while some members of the committee believe that the altered document does not need to be transmitted to the President to make it a legal document, others insist that he must give his assent since it is an Act of Parliament.

“Those who are saying yes, the president must assent believed that since it is an Act of the National Assembly and for it to be an Act, it needs to be assented to by Mr. President,” he said.

“But the other school of thought is saying that this is a special Act. The ordinary Act does not go to the State Houses of Assembly. This one goes to the State Houses of Assembly and the governors are not expected to give their assent.

“Moreover, this is an Act that is passed by more than two-third of members. It is different from ordinary bills. It is a special bill which involves Federal and State Houses of Assembly. And since it involves states and federal legislature, there is no way for the president to assent to a law passed by state legislature,” Mr. Nafada said.

He, however, noted that both views can be resolved by the constitution.

“We will keep on sounding people out because it is ongoing. Even in the committee some of us believe that the President doesn’t need to assent to the Bill for it to become an Act,” he said.

“But some are saying no, because the constitution says that for any bill to become an Act, the president must assent to it, the President must sign the document. But the question some are asking, supposing you take this one to the president after doing everything and he refuses to sign, you veto him by two-third which is exactly what has been done.

“Does it mean you have to take it to the State Houses of Assembly again? If the president refuses to assent do you take it back to the states for another approval?”

The deputy speaker said though the controversy is still on, it will soon be resolved because it is not a big one.

Speedy Approval

Mr Nafada promised that the state legislatures will soon come out with their resolution on the amended constitution, adding it may be within the next 21 days.

He said the return of clean copies by the state legislatures will determine if the amended constitution will affect next year’s general elections.

Speaking on the frequent crisis in the federal legislature, the deputy speaker said ‘it is normal and a learning process” but quickly added that it has nothing to do with the house leadership.

“When you have more than 20 people sitting in a place, there is bound to be different opinions on issues,” he said. “The way I may see an issue may be different from the way you may look at it and I can’t force you to agree with my own view on an issue and you can’t force me to take your own opinion.

“I don’t have any problem with what is happening, it is just a learning process. If you look at the first set of members 1999 to 2003, the turbulence in the National Assembly was more than that of 2003 to 2007. And the one in 2007 to 2011 will be less than what was obtainable in 2003 to 2007.

“It may not always be the same it may change from one set to another depending on those who are members at a particular time. It has nothing to do with the leadership. Whoever is the leader, I don’t want to believe that it is something that has to do with leadership.”