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Senate To Override Buhari Over Two Bills

Published

5 years ago

April 11, 2019

Editor

The Senate on Wednesday resolved to override President Muhammadu Buhari’s veto on two bills passed by the National Assembly.

The upper chamber also agreed to reconsider and pass 15 other Bills rejected by President Buhari.

The resolution to override the president’s veto on the bills and reconsider 15 others was unanimously adopted on the floor of the Senate.

The two affected bills are the “the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Fourth Alteration No. 28,) Bill, 2018” and “the Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) (Amendment) Bill, 2018.

The Forth Alteration No. 28 Bill, a constitution amendment, seeks to provide for the time within which the President or Governor shall lay the Appropriation Bill before the National or State Assembly.

The Bill also seeks to encourage early presentation and passage of Appropriation Bills.

President Buhari declined assent to the Bill on the grounds that it did not take cognizance of the provisions of Section 58(4) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

The Industrial Development Amendment Bill, is 2018, on the other hand, aimed to enable companies that expand their operations in pioneer industry or product to apply for a new pioneer status.

Records showed that President Buhari declined assent to the Bill on the ground that ongoing inter-ministerial consultations would be affected if the Bill is signed into law.

Findings showed that since the inauguration of the Eight National Assembly, President Buhari has vetoed more than 36 Bills passed by the National Assembly.

The President has vetoed over 15 Bills passed by the National Assembly this year alone.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator David Umaru, whose committee considered the rejected Bills, presented the report of the committee.

Umaru said that the 1999 Constitution, (as amended), gives the Senate the right to override the President in the event that a Bill is vetoed.

The Niger East Senator quoted Section 60 of the Constitution and Rule 88 of the Senate Standing Orders 2015 to back the position that the Senate is constitutionally empowered to override the President in the event the a Bill is vetoed.

He said: “Therefore, the Bills having been rejected by Mr. President, the National Assembly even if it considers Mr. President’s observations or not, must pass the Bills again and be assented to by Mr. President or override the veto, in which case, Mr. President’s assent would not be required.”

The 15 Bills the Senate resolved to reconsider and pass were also rejected by the President.

The Bills are expected to be represented on the floor of the upper chamber for normal legislative process, before passage into law.

The affected Bills include the Fourth Alteration, No. 20, expected to strengthen the Judiciary and accelerate dispensation of justice.

Fourth Alteration, No. 8, which seeks to alter the Constitution to

Continue on Page 2 provide immunity for members of the legislature in respect to words spoken or written at plenary sessions or at Committee proceedings and institutionalised legislative bureaucracy in the Constitution.

Fourth Alteration, No 15, which seeks to alter the Constitution to replace the name Nigeria Police Force with Nigerian Police, to reflect their core mandate of providing civil services.

Fourth Alteration, No. 22, the Bill seeks to alter the provisions of the Constitution, to reflect the establishment and core functions of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

Fourth Alteration, No. 24, which seeks to alter the provisions of the Constitution, to among other things, provide the procedure for passing a Constitution Alteration Bill where the President withholds assent.

Other Bills also affected include the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, 2018; National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (Establishment) Bill, 2018; National Research and Innovation Council Bill, 2018; Stamp Duties (Amendment) Bill, 2018 and Chartered Institute of Entrepreneurship (Establishment) Bill, 2018.

Also the Subsidy Legislation (Legislative Scrutiny) Bill, 2018; Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency Amendment Bill, 2018; National Agricultural Seeds Council Bill, 2018; the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2017; and Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (Amendment), Bill, 2018 are to be reconsidered.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, assured that the Bills, when passed into law, will benefit the entire country.

Saraki did not however say when the Bills will be listed in the Order Paper for consideration.

It is also not clear whether the upper chamber will be able to conclude work on the Bills within its remaining life span of barely two months.

The Senate also needs the concurrence of the House of Representatives in order to reactivate the Bills for transmission to the president for assent in the case of the 15 Bills to be reconsidered.

Related Topics:Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki President of the Senate

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Breaking: Wike Plans to Attend Thursday’s PDP NEC Meeting

Published

1 day ago

April 17, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, may have concluded plans to attend the much advertised National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), billed to hold on Thursday, in Abuja.

Impeccable source, who is in the know, told The Boss that the minister, whose membership of the PDP is yet to be revoked even as he frolicks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and serving in the President Bola Tinubu government as a minister.

The Source told The Boss that Wike’s impending presence at the NECeeting on Thursday is not unconnected with plans, already hatched with some governors, to weaken the opposition PDP.

“Yes, we have on good authority that FCT minister, Wike is planning to attend the NEC meeting tomorrow all in a bid to weaken the fabrics of the PDP, and pave the way for the continuation of the Tinubu administration come 2027, and by extension, relapse Nigeria to a full blown one party state.

“From every indication, Wike and his co-travellers, are bent on unleashing the same crisis ravaging the third force, Labour Party, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigerian National People’s Party (NNPP) on the PDP for the APC to remain the only political party in the country, and ensure that Tinubu has no challenger, come 2027,” the Source said.

It would be recalled that Wike has boasted over and again that there’s no opposition against Tinubu’s re-emergence in 2027, and that they have made sure of that. He has been compensated with the Ministerial job after he withdrew support for his party, and supported the APC and Tinubu to emerge as national government.

The Source further revealed that in the attempt to actualize the intended one party state, a lot of funding is ongoing to ensure that concerned stakeholders are ‘settled’ handsomely.

Wike, prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, has been floating in between the two major political parties; the APC and the PDP. While he claim to still be a member of the PDP, he is functioning as a minister in an APC government, mocking the inability of his party to discipline him.

Political stakeholders have concluded that the outcome of Thursday’s PDP NEC meeting will determine the path Nigeria’s political trajectory will take, and that it may portend the end of multi-party system and political democracy if Wike succeeds in his plan.

Headline

Bribery, Corruption: APC Suspends National Chairman, Ganduje

Published

3 days ago

April 15, 2024

Eric

The All Progressives Congress ward in Ganduje, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, has suspended the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

The party ward legal adviser, Halliru Gwanzo, announced the suspension while addressing newsmen in Kano State on Monday.

Gwanzo cited allegations of bribery against Ganduje levelled by the Kano State Government as the reason for the suspension.

“We decided to suspend Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him,” Gwanzo said.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact the Chief Press Secretary to the APC National Chairman, Mr Edwin Olufo, failed as his mobile phone was unreachable.

Headline

Akpabio Commits to Collaboration with Tinubu, Governor Umo Eno

Published

7 days ago

April 12, 2024

Admin

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has stated his commitment to working closely with Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Governor Umo Eno to ensure the delivery of democratic benefits to the people of Akwa Ibom State.

Akpabio stated this in his country home, Ukana, Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, while briefing his constituents on the journey so far as their representative in the red chamber.

He assured the people of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District of his commitment to their welfare in appreciation of their total support for him, President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in last year’s election.

The Highpoint of the constituency briefing was the distribution of over 10,000 bags of rice and other essentials for his constituents from the wards, to the local governments.

A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, quoted Akpabio as saying, “I am here once again, to thank you for standing by me, our President and the party, before, during and even after last year’s elections. I have come to say thank you and also bring Renewed Hope to you all.

“As the President is doing his own, the Senate President is also doing his bit and being complemented by the state governor, Akwa Ibom would be the better for it. We have finished elections and politics, we are now into governance. The governor of the state must touch you, because he is the governor of all the people in the state irrespective of political affiliation.

” As I am touching you now from the political angle, I will also touch the state without any political party affiliation. Most of the projects we are putting in place would be used by people resident in the state. Relax, things are getting better.”

The former Governor of the state, assured his constituents that his current position as the Senate President would be used for the development of the state in collaboration with the President and the Akwa Ibom State Governor.

Hear him: This Senate President is not the one that would be fighting the state government. I will collaborate with , I will collaborate with , to make the state better for us all. We cannot be out of government for a long time. You have to go to a government that carries you along”

Akpabio promised to work for his constituents and Nigeria with all his strength, noting that, “as the President of the Senate, I am for the Southern region and the entire country. I may not come here regularly to tell you what I have been doing for you, but you will be feeling the impact on way or the other. Our unemployed youths would be gainfully employed. I will construct a mini stadium in all the local governments in the district, for our youths to develop their sporting potentials. ”