Teddy Oscar, Abuja
The Senate Minority Leader, Senator George Akume, on Tuesday admitted openly that the 7th Senate now lacks the constitutional right to override former President Goodluck Jonathan’s veto on the 1999 Constitution Amendment Bill, which was passed by the National
Assembly.
Loading ...Akume, who explained that Jonathan’s inability to assent to the Bill before the end of his tenure has rendered it dead, admitted that there was nothing the legislature can do to get the amendment become a law.
Speaking with newsmen in Abuja, Akume added that the Supreme Court did not ask that the Federal Government made concession nor the legislature to override the Jonathan’s veto, even as the Court had asked both to settle the
issue out of court.
“The issue here is very clear; if it was not assented to, I do not know what you want us to do. It is very clear that this particular Bill will now struggle to find a place in
the new Senate, which is the 8th Senate.
“Jonathan has left, and the Bill is still a Bill until it is assented to. The Supreme Court has made its own
pronouncement. The Supreme Court didn’t say go and override, or the President should go and make concession.
“One way or the other, this issue has not been resolved. So, that is the responsibility of the 8th Senate, if they feel it is a major priority for the Senate,“ he said.
Akume, who reacted his decision to jettison his ambition to become the Senate President in the next Senate, explained that his decision
was informed by what he called the “dynamism of politics” in the race.
“That is the dynamism of politics. Politics is like that, and what we have sought to do and we have been trying to do is to as much as possible have an internal realignment, consolidate and move forward. Basically, that is what has been done,” he said.
Defending President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to move the military command headquarters to Maiduguri, he said that it was the only way out, if the nation is prepared to win the war against insurgency in the North-East.
“The movement of the military command headquarters to the
epicenter of the insurgency is a step in the right direction. There is no way you will be fighting terror in,
for instance, Makurdi (Benue State) and then your headquarters is in Abuja, or it’s in Jos (Plateau State).
“It is always good to be there to make direct assessment, and to confront the challenges headlong. I
think apart from saying he was moving it, he was also dedicated to the training of the Armed Forces. I think these are very important,“ he insisted.
