No way! S’Court can’t order us on Constitution amendment -Senate

The Senate has stated that it was wrong for the Supreme Court to stop the lawmakers in the performance of their legislative duties by ordering them to stop debating amendments to the constitution.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Information and Public Affairs, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, stated this on Sunday, while reacting to an order of the apex Court issued last week, which directed the National Assembly to maintain the status quo in its bid to amend the Constitution.

Abaribe, in an interview with journalists in Abuja, said, “The Supreme Court is wrong. The law does not allow one arm of the government to stop another arm of government from performing its duties.

“The Supreme Court cannot stop us from legislating and if they say that the Supreme Court is stopping us from making laws, it is misleading and it amounts to misreading the powers of the Supreme Court.”

The Federal Government had instituted a suit challenging the powers of the lawmakers to perform its duties under the Constitution. The decision of President Jonathan to veto the Fourth Alteration bill to the 1999 Constitution, presented to him, informed the suit.

The President had raised a number of issues including the failure of the lawmakers to produce evidence that it secured the mandatory four fifth majority in amending Section 9 of the Constitution.

The lawmakers had planned to override the President’s veto after a review by the Constitution amendment Committees of the two chambers.

 

 

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