CONSTITUTION: INEC TO GET POWERS TO CONDUCT REFERENDUM
Prof. Attahiru Jega
The committee led by deputy senate president Ike Ekweremadu, had on June 5 submitted its report to the senate. Senators dedicated the whole of last week debating the proposed amendments and are billed to carry out clause by clause voting.
According to the 36 page recommendation made by the panel, clause 2 seeking to alter sections 8 and 9 of the extant Constitution provides that INEC shall be empowered to conduct national referendum on any future alterations of the constitution.
Item 3M, under clause 2 seeking to alter section 9 states that, “The Independent National Electoral Commission shall within 6 months of the receipt of the draft constitution, cause a referendum to be conducted to approve the draft constitution.”
Subsection 3N provides that: “If the draft constitution receives a simple majority of votes cast in two-thirds of all states of the Federation, it shall come into force as a Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
In the same vein, the Senators are also seeking to scrap both the Senate and House of Representatives ad hoc committees on constitution review in subsection 3D of section 9 by providing for a joint National Assembly constitution drafting committee which will comprise of two members from each of the 36 states of the Federation and the FCT, one Senator and one House member and will be set up by Senate President in consultation with Speaker of the House.
The joint committee according to the new proposal within three months of its constitution “shall produce a draft constitution which shall be submitted to the president of the senate and speaker of the House of Representatives.”
After the draft is submitted by the Commitee, members in each of the Houses will vote by two-thirds before it is transmitted to the 36 states Houses of Assembly who in turn will also vote by simple majority of two-thirds of their members on each item slated for alteration before returning it to the National Assembly after which it will then be forwarded to INEC for referendum.
INEC is asking the National Assembly to consider and give speedy effect to the proposals for Amendments to the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) and is demanding far-reaching powers to be the sole authority on the disqualification of candidates as well as determine the political parties that would have their names and logos on the ballot papers as against the provisions of the Electoral Act, where INEC can only disqualify a candidate based on judicial orders
.
According to the 36 page recommendation made by the panel, clause 2 seeking to alter sections 8 and 9 of the extant Constitution provides that INEC shall be empowered to conduct national referendum on any future alterations of the constitution.
Item 3M, under clause 2 seeking to alter section 9 states that, “The Independent National Electoral Commission shall within 6 months of the receipt of the draft constitution, cause a referendum to be conducted to approve the draft constitution.”
Subsection 3N provides that: “If the draft constitution receives a simple majority of votes cast in two-thirds of all states of the Federation, it shall come into force as a Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
In the same vein, the Senators are also seeking to scrap both the Senate and House of Representatives ad hoc committees on constitution review in subsection 3D of section 9 by providing for a joint National Assembly constitution drafting committee which will comprise of two members from each of the 36 states of the Federation and the FCT, one Senator and one House member and will be set up by Senate President in consultation with Speaker of the House.
The joint committee according to the new proposal within three months of its constitution “shall produce a draft constitution which shall be submitted to the president of the senate and speaker of the House of Representatives.”
After the draft is submitted by the Commitee, members in each of the Houses will vote by two-thirds before it is transmitted to the 36 states Houses of Assembly who in turn will also vote by simple majority of two-thirds of their members on each item slated for alteration before returning it to the National Assembly after which it will then be forwarded to INEC for referendum.
INEC is asking the National Assembly to consider and give speedy effect to the proposals for Amendments to the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) and is demanding far-reaching powers to be the sole authority on the disqualification of candidates as well as determine the political parties that would have their names and logos on the ballot papers as against the provisions of the Electoral Act, where INEC can only disqualify a candidate based on judicial orders
.
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