The Nigerian Senate has disclosed that it plans to strip President Muhammadu Buhari of powers to assent the ongoing constitution amendment.
This was made known by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu at the ongoing retreat by the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, in which he is the Chairman of.
Speaking at the programme held at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Victoria Island, Lagos, Ekweremadu noted that “A bill to amend any portion of the constitution is not an ordinary bill.”
“It is the only bill that requires the two-thirds majority of each Chamber of the National Assembly to pass in the first instance,” he explained, adding that, “It is also the only bill that requires the approval of two-thirds of the States Assembly to pass.
Ekweremadu pointed out that since former President Goodluck Jonathan did not sign the Fourth Alteration Bill into law, which strips the president of powers to veto any bill, it will be reconsidered with fresh inputs.
“Presidential veto of a bill to amend the constitution makes jest of the philosophy of sovereignty, which is that power belongs to the people, and that the people exercise this sovereignty through their representatives in parliament.
“Nigerians have argued, and rightly so, that the Constitution would have made explicit prescriptions on how such veto could be reversed, if it were the expectation of the framers of the Constitution for one man or woman to veto a constitution amendment.”
