S/Court stops N/Assembly on constitution review

The Supreme Court yesterday stopped the National Assembly from over-ridding a Presidential veto and to enact into law the Fourth Alteration Act which seeks to amend the 1999 constitution.

Chief Justice Mahmud Mohammed, who presided at the hearing of a suit filed by the Federal Government warned the parties not to do anything that will affect the subject matter of the suit.

The court consequently adjourned the suit to June 18 when a new government will have come on board and the legislative session of the present National Assembly would have ended.

The Supreme Court’s order has effectively killed the threat by the NASS to go ahead to pass the amendments into law thereby rendering the whole amendments process which gulped billion of Naira a wasted exercise.

The Attorney General of the Federation applied for an order restraining the lawmakers from going ahead to amend the Constitution after President Goodluck Jonathan withheld assent.

The AGF premised the application on the grounds among others that the National Assembly was determined to proceed with passing the constitution by overriding the veto of same despite the fundamental nature of the issues raised against it.

When the case came up before the court, the CJN sought clarification on whether the suit was properly instituted saying that the president should have filed the suit by himself and not through the AGF.

According to him, since the dispute is not between the federal government and the federating units, the proper person to file should be the president.

However, FG’s lawyer, Chief Bayo Ojo, SAN maintained that the suit was properly constituted.

The justices of the court also sought to know whether it was right not to make states’ houses of assembly parties since they participated in the process that resulted in the amendments.