By Chika Onuorah
A bill to give some principal officers of the National Assembly immunity against prosecution is causing disquiet in the House of Representatives.
Only the Executives (President and Vice President, Governors and Deputy Governors) enjoy immunity under section 308 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The house went into a rowdy session as the Minority Leader, Leo Ogor (PDP) attempted a motion on the bill for a second reading. In the process, some members opposed to the bill stood up to halt and commotion ensued
Leading the lawmakers opposed to the bill, House Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila (APC) said the timing of the legislation is not right: “We must feel the pulse of the people; there is something about timing, timing in any piece of legislation is important.”
He also explained that no legislation in the world provides immunity for its presiding officers. Moreover, he drew the attention of his colleagues to the ongoing trial of some principal officers of the Senate, as this may be misconstrued as trying to shield them – “there are issues in the senate and I pray it’s resolved.”
Ogor had while moving a motion on the bill, said “the amendment is straight forward but it needs some clear explanation,” adding that: “The amendment seeks to strengthen the National Assembly, they (leadership) should be protected in the period they are in office.”
The Speaker, Yakubu Dogara tried to remind his members that any bill(s) that seeks to amend the constitution are normally allowed to pass through the 2nd Reading, before being sent to the adhoc committee on the review of constitution.
But this explanation did not go down well with the anti-immunity lawmakers, as they insisted the bill must be dropped. This further attracted more rowdiness on the floor of the House.
Another moment of calmness returned to the House, allowing the Deputy Chairman, Rules and Business, Ayorinde Olabode to cite order 8 rule 98 of the house rules, which he said was to guide the House. The rule states that any bill that seeks to alter the constitution be sent to a special committee.
However, the Speaker amidst a noisy House, passed the bill for second reading and referred it to the special committee on constitutional review.
