Constitution: N4bn wasted as Senate backtracks on overriding Jonathan’s veto

The Senate on Wednesday backtracked on its threat to begin proceedings on overriding President Goodluck Jonathan’s veto on the proposed amendment to the 1999 Constitution.
The decision of the Senate is coming after about N4 billion had been spent on the stalemated constitution amendment.
The Senate had last week threatened to override Mr. President’s veto on the amendment of the 1999 Constitution.
But after a closed door session, which lasted for about one and half hours, the President of the Senate, David Mark, said senators will not break any law in that regard.
Mark said the lawmakers will take appropriate actions and make sure that democracy survives.
He also said the Executive should not take National Assembly for granted.
The Supreme Court had last week ruled on a suit filed by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke, seeking to stop the National Assembly from overriding Jonathan’s veto on the Fourth Alteration Bill 2015.
The Senate had said the Supreme Court’s verdict will not stop it from going ahead to pass the amendments into law.
President Jonathan had said the National Assembly did not fulfil some of the conditions precedent for the passage of the amendment.
Our correspondent gathered that not less that N1 billion had been voted annually for the amendment of the constitution since 2011.
Briefing the Senate Press Corps after the closed door session, the Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, explained that the funding of the Constitution amendment exercise was from the National Assembly budget.
In Ndoma-Egba’s words: “The total budget of the National Assembly in the last five years was N150 billion.
“In the 2015 budget, it has been reduced to N120 billion.
“That includes capital, it includes recurrent, it includes salaries and allowances of senators and members of the House of Representatives, the National Assembly Service commission.
“It includes the Institute of Legislative Studies, it includes our aides.
“So where did the N600 billion come from?
“I would like to say that the funding of the Constitution amendment exercise is from the National Assembly budget.”