The House of Represen-tatives yesterday explained that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu as well as the Speaker of the House of Representatives and his deputy, Yakubu Dogara and Yussuff Lasun respectively will not be beneficiaries of the proposed immunity for the presiding officers of the National Assembly in the ongoing constitutional amendment.
This is just as the House has stated that the proposed immunity was not to shield anybody, rather it was to stop unnecessary distractions of the presiding officers from the other arms of government.
Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazak Namdas, while addressing journalists yesterday said that the immunity clause which passed through second reading and referred to the House ad-hoc committee on Constitutional Amendment will pass through the normal rigorous process.
He regretted that already some people had concluded that the National Assembly had given the presiding officers immunity, stressing that the immunity could be dropped by the ad-hoc committee which he said were made up of experts on constitutional matters who will also get inputs from knowledgeable Nigerians.
A member of the committee said, “Even if the immunity is passed, the incumbent can’t enjoy it. We want to guard against distractions. The National Assembly is distracted now. It is for the future, so, there is nothing wrong for leaders to enjoy it.” However, some members of the committee also expressed their disapproval of the proposed immunity for the presiding officers, although, the House spokesman said it was not done in bad faith.
According to him, such proposal was done for good governance, adding that for the fact that the debate took place in the chamber during plenary, did not mean that it had been adopted. On the public hearing of the alleged sexual misconduct against three members of the House, he assured that nobody will be shielded even as he expressed dismay that the outgoing American Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle who brought the allegation to the Speaker decided not to attend the investigative hearing.