In
a tensed atmosphere on Thursday, the Senate passed a bill amending the Code of
Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, which transfers the controlling powers of the
bureau and the tribunal from the President to the National Assembly.
As
part of the amendment, the CCT shall be made up of the chairman and four other
members, with three of the five forming the quorum at every sitting.
The
lawmakers, however, allowed the President to maintain his power of appointment
into the CCB.
But
the appointment of the chairman and members of the bureau and the tribunal will
be subject to the Senate’s approval, with the appointment of those in the
bureau limited to a tenure of five years, while the second term will be subject
to legislative approval, if the amendment is passed into law.
The
House of Representatives had passed the amendment bill in May 2016 and sent it
to the Senate for concurrence.
The
Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Samuel
Anyanwu, while laying a report on the concurrence amendment bill on the floor
of the chamber during Thursday’s plenary, recalled that the Senate referred the
bill to the committee on October 13, 2016, “for critical examination.”
He
admitted that a similar amendment bill was introduced in the Senate earlier in
the year, which generated political tension that forced the lawmakers to
suspend the process.
According
to report, the bill seeks to amend the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act
Cap. C15 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2014.
The
amendment, the report said, included “altering the tenure of the Office of the
Chairman and members of the bureau; amending the entry age of the chairman and
members of the bureau; relocating the power to exercise authority over the
bureau from Mr. President to the National Assembly; extending (the) power of
the Attorney General of the Federation to prosecute to private legal practitioners
to enable the bureau to prosecute its cases; and making certain provisions
clearer and more elaborate.”
Before
the amendment, Section 18 of the CCB/CCT Act, which formed the crux of the
amendment, stated that, “(1) The President may by order exempt any cadre of
public officers from the provisions of this Act if it appears to him that their
position in the public service is below the rank which it considers appropriate
for the application of those provisions.
“(2)The
President may by order confer on the bureau such additional powers as may
appear to it to be necessary to enable it to discharge more effectively the
functions conferred upon it under this Act.”
The
amended version now reads, “Section 18 (1) and (2) are amended by substituting
‘President’ with the ‘National Assembly’ and substitute in Subsection 1 ‘him’
with ‘it.’”
The
lawmakers also replaced “additional powers” with “additional powers and
returns” in the Section 18 (2).
But
for the “nays that had it” when votes were taken on the amendment to Section
4(2), the National Assembly would have taken the powers to appoint officials of
the CCB from the President.
The
proposed amendment read, “The Principal Act is hereby amended in Section 4(2)
by substituting the word ‘President’ with the words ‘National Assembly.’”
On
the tenure of CCB chairman and members, the Senate deleted the old Section
1(4), which stated that, “The chairman and any member shall vacate office upon
attaining the age of 70 and replaced it with, “The chairman and members shall
serve for a term of five years subject to renewal for one further term only.”
The
Senate however rejected the amendment to Section 1 (2)(b) by the House of
Representatives, which attempted to reduce the entry age of the chairman and
members of the CCT from 50 years to 30 years. The senators voted that the
status quo be maintained.
The
debate on the amendment recorded more controversy when the senators got to
Section 4(2) and Section 18(2), which divided the lawmakers on the floor of the
chamber.
Those
who called for caution included Adamu Abdullahi (APC, Nasarawa-West); Enyinnaya
Abaribe (PDP, Abia-South); and Yahaya Abdullahi (APC, Kebbi-North).
The
Leader of the SUF, Ahmed Lawan (APC, Yobe-North), however, warned against the
amendment process, noting that the legislature should make laws for the country
and not in favour of individual lawmakers.
The
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, however, stated that there was no
ulterior motive behind the quick passage of the bill.
Senator
Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna-Central), however, said since the Senate had decided to
discuss this bill, lawmakers should be allowed to do so.
Senator
Barnabas Gemade seconded the motion but the nays had it, which signaled the
continuation of the amendment.
Source:The Punch
Tags
Politics