24 hours after passing two critical bills for a second reading—one seeking to review the death penalty law and the other proposing the removal of immunity for the Vice President, governors, and their deputies—the House of Representatives has reversed its decision.
The House Leader, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, announced the resolution at Thursday’s plenary session.
The decision came after both bills, among 42 proposed constitutional amendment legislation, were considered during Wednesday’s session. However, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, who presided over the plenary in the absence of Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, explained that the reversal was to allow for a more in-depth debate on the subject matter.
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 stated.
The bill seeking to strip the Vice President, governors, and their deputies of immunity had aimed to enhance accountability and curb corruption in public office by amending the 1999 Constitution. If passed into law, it would have left only the President with qualified immunity while removing the legal protection for other top executives.
It will be recalled that a group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives, led by Ikenga Ugochinyere, had proposed amendments to the 1999 Constitution to improve governance. Their key proposals include a single six-year tenure for the President and state governors and the creation of two Vice President positions—one from the North and one from the South.
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