The House of Representatives on Thursday rescinded its decision to pass for second reading a constitutional amendment Bill to strip the Vice President, Governors and Deputy Governors of immunity as conferred by section 308 of the Constitution as amended.
The House also rescinded its decision to pass for second reading the bill to amend the Constitution to review penalty for certain category of offences.
The two bills were passed for second reading on Wednesday and referred to the House Committee bon constitutional review.
The bill striping the Vice President and others of immunity titled: “a Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Qualify the Immunity Conferred on the President, Remove the Immunity Conferred on the Vice President, the Governors and their Deputies in Order to Curb Corruption, Eradicate Impunity and Enhance Accountability in Public Office” is sponsored by Solomon Bob (PDP, Rivers).
Also, the bill on penalty for certain capital offences titled: “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Cap. C23 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 to Review the Penalties for Certain Capital Offences in Alignment with Relevant International Best Practices,”” is sponsored by Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Okezie Kalu & 6 others.
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The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, who presided over the plenary session in the absence of the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, said the decision on the bills is to enable the House to conduct a more robust debate by the lawmakers.
“We want to apologise to the sponsors of the bills, but this action is to enable the House to have a further debate considering the importance of the subject matters,” Kalu said.
Kalu said the bills will be brought back to the House for debate by members in view of the sensitive nature of the issues involved.
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