The move by the leadership of the Senate to amend Section 9 of the 1999 constitution with a view to empowering the President to initiate the process of a new constitution as received condemnation by some senators.
Deputy Senate President, Ekweremadu, who also chairs the Committee on Review of the constitution, had while leading debate said, the alteration being proposed on Section 9 “is to make provision for the President, in addition to the National Assembly, to initiate the process of a new constitution”.
But, some senators viewed this as an attempt to legalise the ongoing National Conference, arguing further that should the amendment scale through, the Executive would have succeeded in usurping the powers of the Legislature.
The Review Committee is seeking amendment to Section 9 which deals with how a new constitution could be processed.
Ekweremadu, noted that the Senate in July last year came up with the idea that since Section 9 did not make any provision for how a new constitution would come into being, stressing the need to amend Section 9 in order to accommodate such possibility in the future.
He said, “Because as you amend the constitution it would get to a point where you would not even know which part of the Constitution has been amended and which has not been amended.
“So time will come in the future where we will need to put these things together into a new constitution.
“Again the society is dynamic to note that at some point there will be the need to have a new Constitution. And we won’t be the first to do that.
“Other countries have done that including Kenya, Brazil and Zimbabwe. So further to that we proposed an amendment to Section 9 last on how a new Constitution can come to force.
“And in that Constitution we are clear in what we stated that only the National Assembly can bring about the process of a new Constitution.
“But at our committee’s meeting yesterday, we now looked at our rules in which case the President can bring about a Bill.
“So, we now felt that it is also necessary to open the door in such a way that it is not just the National Assembly that can start the process, that even the President can send a proposal for a new Constitution.
“If we leave it as it is now, the President cannot send any proposal for a new Constitution, if it is left as it is today because we have already passed a Bill shutting the President out.”
He explained further that what his committee was doing was to open a window so that the National Assembly or the President can initiate the process which is in accordance with the rules of the senate.
The presentation was immediately greeted with heated debates among the senators present at plenary. Some called for the rejection of the bill, which according to them was aimed at legitimising the ongoing National Conference, through the National Assembly.
Others who also spoke against the bill argued that a new constitution was unnecessary because it will further create more problems for the nation’s democracy.
Contributing, Kabiru Marafa, noted that inserting a clause to accommodate the President as one of the parties that can initiate process for a new constitution, was an attempt to usurp the powers of the legislature by the executive.
He alleged that going ahead with the alteration would automatically provide a window for President Goodluck Jonathan to give credibility to the National Conference.
On his part, Bello Tukur said the senate should limit its activities to the amendments of certain clauses identified by stakeholders instead of injecting new ones.
Ahmed Lawan, argued that the process of a new constitution was currently the exclusive preserve of the National Assembly.
He said, “We must not dilute the functions of the executive nor 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 away.
“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.
“This is necessary 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.”
However James Manager, disagreed with his colleagues who opposed the amendment, “An officer of the ranking of the President can also instigate the process of a new constitution 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.”
Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, said “there is already provision for three classes of bills, namely members’ bills, executive bills and private member bills.”
He argued that the amendment being sought was in tandem with the provision of the senate rules.
Senate President David Mark, while making final comments on the matter, ruled that every senator will vote on each of the amendments so far proposed by the committee next Wednesday
