• As bill passes second reading
Members of the House of Representatives were sharply divided at plenary on Tuesday
during the debate on the proposal seeking immunity for presiding
officers of the National Assembly from criminal prosecution while in
office.
The bill, seeking an
alteration of Section 308 of the 1999 constitution, as amended, provides
for immunity for the Senate President, Deputy Senate President,
Speaker, Deputy Speaker and presiding officers of state Houses of
Assembly.
The bill, sponsored by the
Minority Leader, Hon. Leo Ogor, however turned plenary into a rowdy
session with proceedings stalled for about 25 minutes.
Ogor, who harped on the need
to establish the independence of the legislative arm of government,
argued that immunity would protect the presiding officers from
unnecessary distractions.
“We are all seeing what is
happening in the Senate, with the Senate President and his Deputy,” Ogor
said and added that if both presiding officers have to appear in court,
the Senate would not be able to sit.
His argument was buttressed by
Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai who noted that the current constitution was
produced by the military governments and therefore only takes the
interest of the Executive into account.
“It behoves on us, N’Assembly
members, to protect the institution…When you protect the legislature,
you protect the people, and it is the people who mandated the Executive
to implement laws,” Ossai said.
0 comments:
Post a Comment