The Senate will on Thursday (today) take its final votes on the amendments to the 1999 Constitution.
The decision would have been taken on Wednesday but for the discovery that proposed amendments to Section 109 were not included in the documents which were circulated among senators.
A record 97 out of the 109 senators began the amendment of 36 clauses of the 1999 Constitution.
History was also made, when for the first time since 1999, the Senate put to use, its Electronic Voting System.
Highlights of the constitution amendment, which received senators’ blessings, were mostly sections dealing with electoral reforms.
Ninety-three senators voted in favour of whittling down the powers of the President with regards to the control of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The senators amended Section 160 of the constitution, thereby strengthening INEC to regulate itself without recourse to the President.
By this amendment, INEC now has the ”powers to make its own rules or otherwise regulate its own procedure (which) shall not be subject to the approval or control of the President.”
The Senators also removed the appointment of state Resident Electoral Commissioners from the President.
The Justice Muhammadu Uwais-led Electoral Reform Committee had, in its recommendation, suggested that the appointment of the chairman of INEC be removed from the President and placed under in the hands of the National Judicial Council.
As is the case with the INEC chairman, an amended Third Schedule, Part I (2) stipulates that RECs ”shall be appointed by the President subject to confirmation by the Senate.”
Reprieve also came the way of individuals, especially former state governors and other public officials, who were barred from holding public office on account of a government White Paper indicting them for fraud and or abuse of office.
This followed the outright cancellation of Section 182 (i) from the constitution.
Under the cancelled section, a person is barred from contesting the governorship election if he/she ”has been indicted for embezzlement or fraud by a Judicial Commission of Enquiry or an Administrative Panel of Enquiry or a Tribunal set up under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act, a Tribunals of Inquiry Law or any other law by the Federal or State Governments which indictment has been accepted to the Federal or State Government.”
Although there had been a clamour for barring public officials indicted for fraud from contesting elections, there had also been allegations of abuse of the use of white paper against political opponents.
The Senate also approved the recommendation by its committee to tinker with the composition of election petition tribunals.
The number of judges required to sit at such tribunals has been reduced from five to three, including a chairman.
Quorum is now set at two judges, as amended in section 285 (4). The new membership was reduced because, according to the Senate, ”it would help in creating more tribunals for the quick determination of election petitions.”
Section 285 (5) (a) (b) (c) was also amended to allow an election petition tribunal dispense with any case and ”deliver its judgment in writing within 180 days from the date of the filing of the petition.”
The section passed despite a protest from the Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Mr. Lee Maeba.
He hinged his protest on what he described as a breach of what was agreed during the committee’s retreat.
Maeba said the review committee agreed on ”120 days for the tribunal to dispense with cases” but was surprised that 180 days was what was reflected in the report before the Senate.
Mark over-ruled him and the amendment narrowly scaled through, with 76 senators voting for the new clause.
Source: Punch news
You might also be interested in:
