Senate on collision course with Buhari

.Sets to override President’s veto on Constitution Amendment, Industrial Dev (Income Tax Relief) bills

.Reconsiders 11 bills, withdraws 4 bills

Tunde Opalana, Abuja

Barely two months to the expiration of the 8th National Assembly, the Senate is set for another showdown with the Executive arm of government by challenging the power of President Muhammadu Buhari to veto parliamentary resolutions.

The Upper Chamber is set override Buhari on the Constitution Amendment Bill and the Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Amendment Bill  while it is set to rework and pass afresh 11 rejected bills and has completely withdrawn four others.

These were consequent upon the consideration of report of the Technical Committee on the decline by President Buhari to assent 17 bills.

The senators are set to override the president’s decisions on 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 11 bills which are to be reworked and sent to the president are: The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Fourth Alteration, No 8) Bill, 2018; The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Fourth Alteration, No 15) Bill, 2018; The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Fourth Alteration, No 20) Bill, 2018; The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Fourth Alteration, No 22) Bill, 2018; The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Fourth Alteration, No 24) Bill, 2018; National Institute of Hospitality and Tourism (Establishment) Bill, 2018; (The Stamp Duties Amendment) Bill, 2018; The Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, 2018; National Research and Innovation Council Bill, 2018; National Agricultural Seeds Council Bill, 2018 and the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (Amendment)Bill, 2018.

The four bills withdrawn by lawmakers on Wednesday includes: The Chartered Institute of Entrepreneurship (Establishment) Bill, 2018; The Subsidy Legislation (Legislative Scrutiny) Bill, 2018; The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency Amendment Bill, 2018 and The Advance Free Fraud and Other Related Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2018.

Presenting the report of the technical committee, its chairman, Sen David Umaru (APC Niger East), said out of the 17 bills recently rejected by the president, there were cogent reasons based on his action on some of the  bills but added that the committee also observed that the Senate needs to override the president’s veto on some.

“The Technical Committee, having critically analysed the reasons why Mr. President withheld assents on the aforementioned Bills vis-a-vis the constitutional and legal implications of Mr. President’s actions and taking into consideration our comments thereon, we hereby make the following observations and findings:

“That the National Assembly as part of its primary mandate under section 4 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, passed the Bills and transmitted same to Mr. President for assent, as required under section 58 of the Constitution; That following the transmission, Mr. President is required by Section 58(4) of the Constitution, to, within Thirty (30) days thereof, signify that he assents or that he withholds his assent. Instead of assenting to the Bills, Mr. President declined his assent on the Bills and returned them to the National Assembly within the stipulated period; That the Bills returned were either with observations or for further engagements and consultation with MDAs. Technically, it means from all intents and purposes that the president had exercised his veto power of assent, having been withheld but within 30 days period.”

The committee also observed that when Mr. President withholds assent on a bill, the option available to the National Assembly is to override the veto and pass the bill either in its original form or re-pass the bill again and incorporate the observations of Mr. President.

“Whereas section 58(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, amended (ante), outlines the effect of refusal of the President to assent to a bill, the Court of Appeal in the case of National Assembly v. The President, Hon. Attorney General of the Federation and INEC (2003) 9 N.W.L.R, Pt. 824 at Page 131) (supra), outlined the position of the law; That some of the observations by Mr. President are rational and convincing. As a result, the Committee adopted those observations and reflected them appropriately in the affected Bills;

“That Mr. President out-rightly withheld assents to some of the bills on grounds that the provisions of the Extant Acts are adequate enough to address the issues raised in the proposed legislations;

“That it is not every aspect of the economy that should be regulated by law, but rather by policies of government; and that the passage of the Suppression of Piracy BIII that Mr. President referred to in his Executive Communication when combined with the two bills currently before the Senate on the same subject matter, would address the issues raised in the NIMASA amendment bill,” the committee noted.

The Senate, during the plenary presided over by its President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, adopted the committee report with agreement to override Buhari’s veto on 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.