Finally New Constitution by Senate

Deputy Senate President and chairman of the committee, Senator Ike Ekweremadu

After weeks of expectations, the Senate Committee for the Review of the 1999 Constitution submitted its report Wednesday with a recommendation, among others, barring a vice-president or deputy governor who succeeds a president or governor on account of death from contesting for such offices during a general election.

If this recommendation as contained in Sections 136 (2) and 181 (2) of the draft amendment bill, read for the first time on the floor of the Senate Wednesday, sails through, President Goodluck Jonathan would be the first and last vice-president to ascend the office of the president following the death of his principal, to contest a subsequent presidential election.

In the same vein, Sections 136 (1c) and 181 (1c) of the draft bill respectively stipulate that if a president-elect or governor-elect dies before swearing-in, the vice-president-elect or deputy governor-elect shall be sworn in as the president or governor respectively only to serve out the tenure of the deceased, but will not be eligible to stand for subsequent elections.

Also, Section 137 (c) of the draft bill, which seeks to replace the current four-year tenure with a single term of six years, stipulates that anybody holding the office of the president or vice-president before the take-off of the amended constitution, is barred from standing for election for a single tenure of six years.

However, the report as presented by the Deputy Senate President and chairman of the committee, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, was silent on the time of the take-off of the single tenure proposal.

The report stated that recommending a single tenure for heads of executive office was necessary “considering the financial expenses often associated with re-elections and to ensure that the executive heads are freed from distractions so that they can concentrate on public policy issues.

While Section 9(A) in the draft bill outlaws the necessity for president’s signature in the amended constitution, sub-section 3(B) of the section stipulates that the National Assembly can also propose a new constitution.