Constitution Review: We are not tampering with immunity clause -Reps
The contentious issue of whether or not retain the immunity clause from the constitution came up again in the front burner of public discourse as the House of Representatives distanced itself from the growing agitation to jettison the status quo.
Worried by what is generally considered a blanket shield for perceived corrupt state governors, by the immunity clause in the constitution, civil right activists have been agitating for the review of that clause of the constitution so that suspected corrupt state helmsmen can face the wrath of the law even while still in office.
However, the deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chairman of the Special Ad-hoc Committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution, Hon. Lasun Yussuff, has said that removing immunity for prosecution for governors in the constitution “is a no go area”, insisting that “there is nothing wrong in the clause that is already in the constitution.”
The Deputy Speaker, while defending his position, stressed that the immunity clause the governors enjoy does not stop them from being prosecuted for criminal charges but only protect them from being prosecuted for civil charges, noting that removing the clause would distract the Governors from administering their States properly.
The Committee was in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital on a three-day retreat ‘The Imperatives of Constitution Review/Amendment in Nation Building’ on the amendment of the 1999 Constitution. Lasun, who spoke at the weekend while addressing a Press Conference to intimate journalists on the activities of the committee, disclosed that the committee had also looked into the report of the National Conference and picked the areas that were relevant to the amendment of the constitution.
“There is nothing wrong in the immunity that is already in the constitution because it doesn’t say that that person cannot be prosecuted after he has left office.
“Nobody is immune when it comes to prosecution that borders on criminal charges but if you have to go to take a sitting governor to court on civil matters on whose hands lie the lives of the people of the whole state, then that will bring distraction to governance.
“We are not going to touch the immunity as it is today, I’m not going to deceive you and I’m not going to tell lies. The maximum years a governor stays in office is eight years and whatever offence that he might have committed while in office is still as fresh as if it has just been committed yesterday.
The Deputy Speaker, while defending his position, stressed that the immunity clause the governors enjoy does not stop them from being prosecuted for criminal charges but only protect them from being prosecuted for civil charges, noting that removing the clause would distract the Governors from administering their States properly.
The Committee was in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital on a three-day retreat ‘The Imperatives of Constitution Review/Amendment in Nation Building’ on the amendment of the 1999 Constitution. Lasun, who spoke at the weekend while addressing a Press Conference to intimate journalists on the activities of the committee, disclosed that the committee had also looked into the report of the National Conference and picked the areas that were relevant to the amendment of the constitution.
“There is nothing wrong in the immunity that is already in the constitution because it doesn’t say that that person cannot be prosecuted after he has left office.
“Nobody is immune when it comes to prosecution that borders on criminal charges but if you have to go to take a sitting governor to court on civil matters on whose hands lie the lives of the people of the whole state, then that will bring distraction to governance.
“We are not going to touch the immunity as it is today, I’m not going to deceive you and I’m not going to tell lies. The maximum years a governor stays in office is eight years and whatever offence that he might have committed while in office is still as fresh as if it has just been committed yesterday.
“What people must do is to bring out such offences when the governor has left office. So it is about institutions and individuals been lazy, nothing is shielding anybody away from being prosecuted after leaving office”, the deputy Speaker explained.
Lasun listed 14 resolutions which formed the basis for the amendment of the Constitution, noting that these areas had also already been reviewed by the 7th Assembly (the last Assembly).
The resolutions included, amendment of the bill of the creation of the Office of the Attorney-General /Minister of Justice, Financial and Administrative Autonomy of Local Government Councils, Creation of The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federal, Authorization of Expenditure, Devolution of Power/Legislative Lists, Electoral Matters, New States and Boundary Adjustment, among others.
He lamented that State Governors had rendered local government administrations in the country non-existing by diverting funds meant for their development.
“It is no longer news that local governments all over the country today are almost getting to non-existence and so we think that development is rural based and local government has the central role in developing our environments. So part of the alteration on the Constitution is going to dwell on Financial and Administrative autonomy for local governments.
“All over the world, the centre of development has been found to be at the grassroots because we are talking about people who form small components of the society, from the family to the compfind, to the villages down to the towns. These are what constitute the Local governments, if you at structure of government, local government defines individuals even more than the states.”
Lasun listed 14 resolutions which formed the basis for the amendment of the Constitution, noting that these areas had also already been reviewed by the 7th Assembly (the last Assembly).
The resolutions included, amendment of the bill of the creation of the Office of the Attorney-General /Minister of Justice, Financial and Administrative Autonomy of Local Government Councils, Creation of The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federal, Authorization of Expenditure, Devolution of Power/Legislative Lists, Electoral Matters, New States and Boundary Adjustment, among others.
He lamented that State Governors had rendered local government administrations in the country non-existing by diverting funds meant for their development.
“It is no longer news that local governments all over the country today are almost getting to non-existence and so we think that development is rural based and local government has the central role in developing our environments. So part of the alteration on the Constitution is going to dwell on Financial and Administrative autonomy for local governments.
“All over the world, the centre of development has been found to be at the grassroots because we are talking about people who form small components of the society, from the family to the compfind, to the villages down to the towns. These are what constitute the Local governments, if you at structure of government, local government defines individuals even more than the states.”
