Senate Strips President Of Power To Assent Bills

President Goodluck Jonathan might be in for a hard time as the Nigerian Senate on Wednesday stripped him of his powers to assent to bills (proposed laws).

Floor of the Nigerian Senate

The development may be coming as a huge surprise to many other Nigerians as well, following the cordial relationship enjoyed by the Senate and the presidency, compared to that of the green chamber (House of Representatives) which was recently sabotaged because of individual political ambition and personal interest.

TheCable reports that the Senate at its plenary this morning approved amendments to the 1999 constitution as recommended in the submission of the constitution alteration bill brought forward by the state houses of assembly.

The current amendment now stipulates that the President will no longer be needed to assent to a bill before it can become law in as much as the national assembly has already approved it.
Meanwhile, Senate President, David Mark, February 17 dismissed allegations about the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) plotting to form the interim government.

Recall that some senior officials fear that after the postponement of the general elections, the ruling party’s planed to use the National Assembly to extend President Jonathan’s tenure through an Interim National Government (ING), an allegation the  presidency has debunked on the ground that the Nigerian Constitution does not have a provision for interim government.

Also, Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo while speaking with BBC on the issue of Interim National Government, maintained that there was no such practice in the country’s constitution.