• Strips President of powers to sign constitutional amendments

The Senate, on Wednesday, voted on the proposed amendments to the 1999 Constitution during which the lawmakers rejected devolution of power to the states.

At its plenary in Abuja, the lawmakers rejected the alteration of the Second Schedule, Parts I and II of the Constitution to move certain items to the Concurrent Legislative List to give more legislative powers to states.

The proposed amendment on power devolution was to also “delineate the extent to which the federal legislature and state assemblies can legislate on the items that have been moved to the Concurrent Legislative List.”

After votes were taken, 46 senators voted for devolution of power, 48 voted against it, while one Senator abstained.

The upper chamber of the National Assembly specifically approved the alterations of sections 65, 106, 131 and 177 of the Constitution, “aimed at expanding the political space and broadening the options for the electorate by allowing for independent candidacy in all elections.”

This was part of the proposals in the report by the Committee on Constitution Review on the ‘Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 As Amended (Alteration) Bill 2017’, which were passed on Wednesday.

The lawmakers had adopted the report at the plenary on Tuesday and debated its recommendations.

At the plenary on Wednesday, votes were taken on the proposed amendments. Electronic voting was adopted, which allowed a legislator to either press the ‘Yes,’ ‘No,’ or ‘Abstain’ button.

Each proposal also required two-thirds of the votes to be passed.

Ninety seven senators registered their presence in the chamber, out of the 109 members.

Senate President Bukola Saraki, who presided over the session, was not expected to vote until there was a tie.

In all, 29 alterations were approved out of the 33 proposed, which were drawn from 27 bills.

But the pan Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere and a faction of the Ijaw National Congress have faulted the Senate for rejecting devolution of power to the states.

They argued that if the Senate had approved the clause, it would have given hope to fillip to the agitations for restructuring of the country.

The Senate also approved the inclusion of former Presidents of the Senate and Speakers of the House of Representatives in the Council of State.

In the meantime, the Senate on Wednesday passed 29 out of the 33 items slated for amendment in the 1999 Constitution.

The lawmakers unanimously voted to strip the President of powers to assent to amendments made to the constitution, thereby giving the legislature sweeping powers to alter the constitution.

They voted 92 against four to pass the amendment seeking to whittle down the power of the President to veto the amendments to the constitution.

The lawmakers also unanimously passed the amendment seeking to include past Presidents of the Senate and former House of Representatives Speakers as members of Council of State.

Also on the card was immunity to lawmakers in the federal and state legislatures against prosecution over words spoken or written in the parliament during debates or at committee assignments.

They also passed an amendment that would compel the President to attend a joint session of the National Assembly once a year to deliver a State of the Nation address.

Similarly, the length of time given to the President to spend funds from the consolidated revenue in the absence of appropriation has been reduced from six to three months.

Henceforth, the President must lay the nation’s annual budgetary proposal before the National Assembly within 90 days before the end of a fiscal year, while state governors are also to lay theirs within the same time frame at the state assemblies.

Local governments have also been freed from the grip of state governments, with the scrapping of the existing Joint State/Local Government Accounts.

The local governments are to get their allocations directly from the federation account and other sources.

State assemblies are also to get financial autonomy. They are also to enjoy a right to funding from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the states. The amendment had been rejected by state assemblies during previous constitution amendment.

Also, the amendment prescribed that appointees of the President and State Governors for cabinet offices are now to be submitted to the Federal and State parliaments within 30 days of taking oath of office by the President or state governors.

Portfolios to be assigned to each appointee will also be indicated in the nomination letters forwarded to the Senate or the state assemblies as the case may be.

The Senate also approved a provision for independent candidates at all levels of election, as a way of expanding the political space beyond conventional parties.

The lawmakers also voted in favour of separation of the office of the Accountant General of the Federal Government from the office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

Punch with additional report from Nation