Senate To Strip Buhari Of Power Of Assent

■ Saraki gives Dec deadline to conclude new amendments

FROM FRED ITUA, LAGOS

THE Senate has revealed plans to strip President Muhammadu Buhari of powers to assent the ongo­ing constitution amendment.

Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu who doubles as the chairman of the Senate committee on constitution review, made the revelation when he spoke at the ongoing retreat by the committee, holding in Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos.

He said 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.

He said: “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. It is also the only bill that requires the approval of two-thirds of the States Assembly to pass.

“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.”