It was a noisy session at the House of Representatives today after a
bill seeking to provide immunity for the leadership of the National
Assembly while in office, was introduced. The bill which is being
sponsored by Leo Ogor, the minority leader of the house, is proposing an
amendment to section 308 of the Nigerian constitution to allow the
national assembly leadership enjoy immunity while in office.
Presenting the bill to members of the house, Ogor said;
“The amendment is straight forward but it needs some clear explanation.
The amendment seeks to strengthen the national assembly. The leadership
should be protected in the period they are in office.”
His opinion was immediately countered by the majority leader of the
house, Femi Gbajabiamila, who argued that since the Senate was presently
having some issues, discussing a bill on immunity clause for National
Assembly members is ill timed.
“We must feel the pulse of the people. There is something about timing,
timing in any piece of legislation is important. There are issues in the
senate and I pray it’s resolved.”he said
At this point the house became rowdy. After calm was restored, the
speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, said the bill would be sent to the
special committee on constitutional review for proper scrutiny. He
however passed the bill for second reading.