Tag Archives: Constitution Amendment

How Ekweremadu Others Withdrew N8 Billion In Failed Constitution Amendment- Report

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Fresh details have emerged on how members of the National Assembly Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution withdrew N7.75 billion purportedly to amend Nigerian constitution.

A report by Premium Times had last week exposed how the federal lawmakers collected the money in tranches to purportedly alter the document between 2011 and 2015, but which former President Goodluck Jonathan refused to sign into law.

While the 49-member Senate Committee on Constitution Review led by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, withdrew a total N4,500,000.00 for the exercise, the 53-member House of Representatives Committee headed by the former Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, spent N3,250,000,000.00.

The documents, exclusively obtained, also showed that the Committee withdrew money from its account few days before the 2015 general elections. The presidential and National Assembly elections held on March 28.

While on March 2, it withdrew N83.33m, it withdrew the same amount 21 days later, precisely on March 23. Yet, on April 13, two days after the governorship election, it withdrew another N83.33m.

The fresh documents exclusively obtained which exposed bank transactions showed that the two committees transferred various sums of money from two National Assembly accounts – 321/212/606/1/1/0 and 321/212/606/1/1/3 domiciled in Guarantee Trust Bank to their own accounts in different banks.

While the House Committee transferred funds to its account in Zenith Bank, its counterpart in the Senate transferred monies to its three accounts domiciled in Bank PHB (now Keystone Bank), Oceanic Bank (now EcoBank) and United Bank for Africa.

According to the documents, the House Committee transferred to its Zenith Bank account N500m on December 16, 2011; N500m on May 17, 2012; N250m on August 6, 2013; and N250m on November 11, 2013; N250m on February 20, 2014; N250m on May 27, 2014; N250m on August 21, 2014; N166.5m on a date not specified; N83.5m on December 5, 2014; and N83.33 on March 2, 2015.

The committee, on different occasions, also withdrew huge amounts in cash, serially violating Nigerian money laundering law.

Part 1, Subsection 1 of the Money Laundering Act 2011 provides that “No person or body corporate shall, except in a transaction through a financial institution, make or accept cash payment of a sum exceeding- (a) N5,000,000.00 or its equivalent, in the case of an individual; or (b)N10,000,000.00 or its equivalent in the case of a body corporate.”

It withdrew N250m on October 29, 2012; N250m on May 8, 2013; N83.33m on March 23, 2015 and another N83.33m on April 13, 2015.

The Senate Committee, the documents revealed, transferred the sum of N125m on April 21, 2010 to Bank PHB; N250m on June 10, 2010 to Oceanic Bank; N125m on a date not specified; to Oceanic Bank and N250m on October 13, 2010 to Bank PHB. The transactions were made before the Committee was inaugurated in the 7th Assembly in 2011

It also transferred N250m on a date not specified to Oceanic Bank; N250m on February 9, 2011to Bank PHB; N500m on December 16, 2011 to Bank PHB; N250m on May 17, 2012 to Bank PHB; N250m on July 23, 2013 to Keystone Bank, N250m on November 5, 2013 to Keystone Bank; N250m on February 5, 2014 to Keystone; N250m on May 22, 2014 to Keystone; N250m on August 18, 2014 to Keystone; N166.6m on November 25, 2014 to Keystone; N83.4 on December 5, 2014 to Keystone; and N83.33m on February 27, 2015 to Keystone.

It further withdrew N250m on April 20, 2012; N250m on February 27, 2013; N250m on May 8, 2013; N83.33m on March 17, 2015; and N83.33 on a date not specified, in cash.

This again was a clear violation of Nigeria’s money laundering law.

Credit: PremiumTimes

Jonathan To Sign Constitution Amendment, As NASS Removes Controversial Clauses

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The National Assembly has agreed to remove the controversial clauses in the amendments to the constitution under the Fourth Alteration Act, 2015, which it passed this year.

President Goodluck Jonathan had withheld his assent to the amendments to the 1999 Constitution, and the Attorney General instituted a suit against the lawmakers to annul the amendments.

The lawmakers agreed to amend the Act in an out-of-court settlement between the executive and legislative arms of government in Abuja on May 26.

Parties agreed that the views of the president be considered and effected by deleting some alterations in the Alteration Act, 2015, for which the president had withheld his assent.

The six-point of settlement in the suit between the Attorney-General of the Federation and the National Assembly, was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday.

According to the terms, NASS agreed to delete alterations made to Section 8 of the Principal Act on referendum in respect of state creation.

It also agreed to delete alterations made to Section 9 of the Principal Act dispensing with the assent of the president in the process of constitution amendment.

NASS also agreed to delete alterations made in Sections 45a-45b of the Act relating to Free Basic Education and Maternal Healthcare Services.

It also deleted alterations made to Sections 150, 174, 195 and 211 of the Principal Act relating to the separation of the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. This also applies to State Attorney-General and Commissioner For Justice.

Accordingly, the suit of the Attorney-General in Suit No: SC/214/ 2015 before the Supreme Court was withdrawn following a motion for discontinuance. The court accordingly struck out the case. It was also agreed that the President Goodluck Jonathan shall assent to the Fourth Alteration Act, 2015.

Credit: NAN

Constitution Amendment: Supreme Court Can’t Stop NASS- Senate

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Senate spokesman, Enyinnaya Aba­ribe said at the weekend that the Supreme Court cannot stop the National Assembly from performing its legislative duties as far as the process of amending the 1999 Con­stitution is concerned.

Abaribe was 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. The order followed a suit by the Federal Government. He said the lawmakers have a duty to perform under the Constitution.

The Federal Government dragged the National Assembly to the apex court following the decision of President Goodluck Jonathan to veto the Fourth Alteration Bill to the 1999 Constitution, which was presented to him. The President 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.

But the lawmakers had planned to overturn the President’s veto after a review by the Constitution Amendment Committees of the two chambers.

Abaribe said yesterday that the Supreme Court was wrong to stop the lawmakers in the performance of their legislative duties.

“The Supreme Court is wrong. The law does not allow one arm of the government to stop another arm 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,” Abaribe said.

Credit: sunnewsonline

Supreme Court Stops Constitution Amendment

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The Supreme Court has stopped the National Assembly from taking further steps towards amending the ?1999 constitution.

In a ruling this morning,? a seven-man panel of justices of the apex court, led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, ?Justice Mahmud Mohammed, ordered the National Assembly to maintain status quo on the matter until June 18.

The apex court further directed the issuance of hearing notice on the NASS for it to appear on that date to respond to the suit that was lodged against the proposed alterations to the constitution, by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Details On : vanguardngr