Nigeria Content Online

The
Senate president, David Mark, has declared that the May 29 handover
date is sacrosanct and crucial under the current process of
constitution amendment.

He made the
declaration on Monday in Abuja during a public hearing organised for
the second amendment to the 1999 Constitution. He cautioned the
leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to
be guarded about the new time line and ensure that the elections do not
overflow into a date beyond 30 days before the May 29 handover date.

He also debunked allegations that the lawmakers were embarking on the second review with skewed interest.

“We don’t have
ulterior motives and we do not need to have,” Mark said. “What we are
doing is in the best interest of the nation and whatever we need to do,
we will do because it is in the interest of the nation.” The second
amendment to the 1999 Constitution is basically to alter the
constitution so that elections will be held not earlier than 90 days
and not later than 30 days before the end of tenure of the running
office. It is an amendment to the current constitutional time frame
which stipulates that elections should hold not earlier than 150 days
and not later than 120 days.

Atahiru Jega,
chairman of INEC, who was at the public hearing said the body was
satisfied with the pace and tone of the amendment being done by the
lawmakers.

He confirmed that
the new 90/30 time line proposed by the bill was the time frame the
election management body requested earlier.

“We are sure that
when this is concluded, the coast will be clear for us to deliver to
Nigerians the credible elections we promised,” Jega said. “So far, we
are satisfied.” Joseph Dawodu, the president of the Nigerian Bar
Association (NBA) who also attended the hearing, said the bar was happy
with the lawmakers’ progress on the amendment. He supported the time
line but warned that if the new one fails, “we might have a situation
which will not be pleasant.”

Corruption in courts

The second
amendment to the 1999 constitution is in two parts. The first covers
the election time line while the second proposes a solution to the
inconsistent judgments on governorship elections arising from appeal
courts and the rising corruption at that level of jurisdiction.

The new amendment
seeks to make the Supreme Court the court of finality in governorship
election cases, with another tweak, which gives the chief judges of
states power in the appointment of appeal court judges to seat in
governorship cases in their respective states.

The bill also proposes to make magistrate court judges appoint-able as members of governorship election tribunals.

Mr Dawodu, however,
warned that contestants shouldn’t be given a blanket right to take
their cases up to the Supreme Court, except in cases where the issue
for determination is not fact but law.

Femi Falana, the
former chairman of West African Bar Association (WABA) was the only
dissenting participant. He was of the opinion that the vices which the
lawmakers are trying to avoid at the lower courts also exist in the
Supreme Court.

He also argued that if governorship cases are allowed to go that far, some of the cases will linger for too long.

The amendments are expected to be concluded before the end of the month.