We Won’t Remove Immunity Clause from Nigerian constitution, Says Deputy Speaker House of Reps.

The deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yussuf Lasun, has said that the constitutional review efforts going on will not lead to the removal of the immunity clause currently enjoyed by some elected officials in the country.

The president, vice president, governors and their deputies currently enjoy immunity from prosecution.

Hon Lasun made this known at the weekend while briefing journalists on the activities of the Constitutional Review Committee in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

Lasun, who is the chairman of the Constitutional Review Committee, said if the immunity clause is removed, it would open a floodgate of litigations against the individuals and this, he argued, would adversely affect their performance.

He explained that whatever offense an official enjoying the privilege commits can be brought against him at the expiration of his tenure. 

On what his committee is doing to ensure that the effort of the lawmakers does not end up like previous attempts, Lasun explained that unlike the previous alterations that were contained in the same document, this time, each alteration would be presented in different bills for presidential assent.

This, he said, has taken care of the presidential veto against the entire effort.

According to him, some of the areas the lawmakers are trying to alter are separating the office of the attorney-general from that of the minister of justice.

He also said the committee will make the office of the Accountant General of the Federation a front-line charge in order to make the office more efficient.

The deputy speaker added that the issue of financial autonomy for the local government system was also being looked into.

He, however, added that funds would only be provided for local government areas run by elected officials.

Another area the lawmakers want to address in the constitution amendment, he said, is how to deal with an electoral situation where a candidate in an election dies before the electoral process are concluded, as was the case in Kogi State governorship election where the leading candidate, Price Abubakar Audu, died before the election results were announced.

The review committee, he revealed, will also delete ‘force’ from the name of the Nigeria Police.