Senate Constitution Review Committee
has barred President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice President Mohammed Namadi
Sambo and all serving governors from contesting election for the
six-year single term being proposed in the constitution under amendment.
The restriction contained in clause
12 of the committee’s report, seeking to alter section 137 of the
constitution reads: “A person holding the office of the president or
vice president immediately before the coming into force of the
alterations of section 135 and 136 of this constitution shall not be
eligible to contest for a single term of six years.”
Like the president, incumbent state
governors, including those serving their first term are prohibited from
seeking election for a six-year single term under the new law, according
to clause 8 which seeks to alter section 180 of the constitution.
The National Assembly had set a July
2013 deadline to conclude work on the amendments to the constitution, so
that the provisions will take effect ahead of the 2015 elections.
If the target is achieved therefore, the president and all the state governors will be bound by the new constitution.
Also, the committee bars President
Jonathan from signing the amended constitution into law as it happened
in 2010 when minor amendments were made to it.
With the new proposals the National
Assembly will also not require simple majority to override the
president’s veto on bills. Once a bill stays with the president for 30
days without him assenting to it or returning it to the legislature, it
will automatically be considered to have been signed.
Clause 11 amending Section 136
disqualifies the vice president from contesting for the office of the
president if he was sworn in after the death or impeachment of the
president.
“Where the vice president-elect or
vice president succeeds the president-elect or the president in
accordance with subsection 1 of this section, he shall not be eligible
to contest for the office of the president in any subsequent election.”
When the new provisions are passed,
all former presiding officers of the National Assembly including former
senate presidents and their deputies, former speakers of the House of
Representatives and their deputies shall be entitled to pension for life
at a rate equivalent to the annual salary of the incumbent officers,”
according to clause 7 amending section 84.
Section 121 also granted financial
autonomy to the 36 states Houses of Assembly, state Auditors- General,
states’ judiciary and states’ Attorneys-General. The section provides
that they derive their funding from the consolidated revenue fund of the
state directly.
The proposed amendment also separates
the office of the Attorney General of the Federation from that of the
Minister of Justice, the same way it separates the office of the state
Attorney- General and Commissioner of Justice.
Ekweremadu committee also proposed an
amendment to Section 162 of the constitution abolishing the
controversial Joint State/Local Government Account and stipulate that
the monthly revenue allocation to the third tier of government be paid
to them directly.
It also denies allocations to local governments that have no elected councils.
In Section 299, the FCT is granted a mayoral status, thereby scrapping the position of the Minister of the Federal Capital.
“The National Assembly shall make law
to provide for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and
functions of the office of Mayor of the Federal Capital Territory,” the
section states.
Section 300 scraps the FCT minister’s position and replaced it with that of a mayor.
The panel also recommended for the
removal of the National Youth Service Scheme (NYSC), Land Use Act and
the National Securities Agencies Act from the constitution.
The committee further called for
devolution of more powers to the 36 states by removing arbitration,
aviation, environment, health care, land and agriculture, prisons,
public complaints, railways, road safety, stamp duties, wages and youth
matters from the exclusive legislative list putting it under the
concurrent legislative list to allow states to establish and maintain
prisons, railways, airports among others.
The committee however rejected the
rotation of the office of the president between the north and south,
saying it will disunite the country.
Similarly, the panel rejected proposal
for the creation of state police as well as that for Nigerians in
Daispora to vote during elections. It also rejected the clamour for
increase in the derivation component of oil and gas sales by oil
producing states of the Niger Delta from the present 13 percent to 20
percent.
The request for the conferment of
“special status” on Lagos did not also scale through even though the
legislators said they appreciated the challenges of Lagos.
On request by indigenes of the FCT to
be given a ministerial slot the same with the 36 states of the
federation, the senators opined that as desirable as it may be, “the
provisions granting mayoral status for the FCT will go a long way in
ensuring equitability and is sufficient to ensure efficient
administration of the federal capital.”
Ekweremadu who took time to brief his
colleagues on how the committee arrived at the decision on each of the
clauses, however noted that on the 99 requests for states creation
received, only 17 “attempted meeting the requirements” as stipulated in
Section 8 (1) of the 1999 Constitution but they too failed.
Senate President David Mark said the
upper legislative chamber will commence clause by clause consideration
on June 25 when they resume from their mid-term recess. He called in all
senators to consult widely with their constituents during the recess.
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