Senate Adopts JCCR Report …Votes On Amended Constitution …As Reps Recommend Independent Candidacy

Commissioner for Health, Dr Sampson Parker (left) in a handshake with the General Manager, East, Skye Bank PLC, Mr Chike Meneh, while the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health, Dr Anthony Nwiado (2nd right) watches, during the bank’s presentation of insecticide treated net, at the ministry, yesterday.

The Senate Tuesday adopted the report of the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review for the amendment or alteration of about of 35 sections of the 1999 Constitution. Senate was expected to pass the amended sections if they all scale through; securing a two-third majority votes .

Apart from sections 145, 190 and few others , most of the amendments are related to Electoral issues.

The Senate amended section 135 and 180 of the 1990 constitution to ensure that the President or governors do not spend above their four year term especially after having spent some part of the tenure before winning a re-run election.

The amended Section 135 (c) now reads: “In the calculation of the four year term, where a re-election has taken place and the person earlier sworn in wins the re-election, the time spent in the office before the date the election was annulled, shall be taken into account.”

Section 65 as amended in the constitution provides that the minimum educational qualification for any election should be tertiary education certificate,While amended section 132 of the constitution now read:

“Elections shall be held on a date not earlier than One hundred and Fifty days and not later than Ninetydays before the expiration of the term of office of the last holder of that office.”

The Senate also approved the recommendation for the recognition of independent candidature in future election .

However, Section 66(1)(h) which stated that a person would not be qualified for election once he had been indicted by a panel of inquiry has now been deleted alongside the provision which stated that members of the National Assembly could lose their seats if they cross carpeted without a division in the party on whose platform they originally got to the Assembly.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the National and State Assemblies by the amendment are to enjoy a provision for financial autonomy to enable them function without recourse to the executive as their financier

Section 81(3) of the amended constitution read:

“The amount standing to the credit of the-

(a) Independent National Electoral Commission,

(b) National Assembly,

(c) Judiciary;

in the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation shall be paid directly to the said bodies respectively; in the case of the Judiciary, such amount shall be paid to the National Judicial Council for disbursement to the heads of the courts established for the federation and the States under section 6 of this Constitution.”

According to the provisions of the amended version, the next election would hold not earlier than 150 days before the May 29th handover date and not later than 90 days before the handover date.

If the approved amendments scale through in the Senate and the House of Representatives, the next huddle would be the state houses Houses of Assembly.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review has recommended independent candidacy in future elections.

Its contained in the committee’s report submitted to the House, yesterday, would alter sections 65, 106, 131 and 171 of the 1999 constitution.

Deputy Speaker Usman Nafada, also chairman of the review committee, said, while reading the summary of the report that sections 68, 109, 135 and 180 had also been altered to allow for ‘cross carpeting’.

According to him, a person may only vacate his seat if he defects to another party, when the party on which he was elected, is either involved in a merger or factionalisation.

He explained that where an independent candidate became a member of a party before the expiration of his tenure, he would vacate his seat.

Nafada stressed that a person could only retain his seat on the condition that he did not join another political party.

Other amendments recommended by the committee include a provision in the Electoral Act for a deputy Chairman of INEC, who shall be a woman, as well as the reduction of the membership of the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal to two.

Nneka Amaechi- Nnadi (Abuja)