Lagos – Some lawyers in Lagos on Monday threatened to sue the Senate on the ongoing moves to amend the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act 2004.
The lawyers said embarking on such an amendment at a time when the Senate President was being tried by the tribunal was in bad faith.
Mr Tope Alabi, a human right lawyer, said the Upper Chamber had the constitutional duty to legislate for the country, but that the motive for making the law must be right.
“The Senate has the constitutional power to amend any law but the motive must be right and for the good of the country,’’ he told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
NAN reports that the bill to amend the CCT Act had on April 14 scaled a second reading at the Upper Chamber.
Senate President Bukola Saraki had been docked at the tribunal on a 13-count charge bordering false declaration of assets and money laundering to which he pleaded not guilty.
He challenged his trial at both Federal High Court and the Supreme Court which ruled that he had a case to answer at the CCT.
Alabi:“The intention of the Upper Chamber to amend the CCT Act when Saraki is standing trial before the CCT is clearly in bad faith.
“Nigerians must rise to oppose it, I will proceed to challenge them (senators) in court.”
He advised the senators to join President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-graft war, instead of giving themselves out as aiding corruption.
Mr U.P.E. Nnaji, said the Senate was trying to make retroactive laws as it was done under the military era.
“They should focus on legislations that are beneficial to the citizens rather than wasting our lean resources to legislate on irrelevancies.
“They should stop the amendment or face court action,’’ he also told NAN.
For Mr Chris Ayiyi, the amendment was nothing to worry about for as long as it was not retroactive.
According to him, Senate is empowered to repeal or amend any law, but that it should be done with sense of responsibility.
Ayiyi urged Nigerians to have faith in the lawmakers and believe that the amendment of the CCT Act was for the future.
Corroborating Ayiyi’s position, Mr Chibuikem Opara, said:“Although the Senate has the powers to amend any law, such amendment must be done for the common good.
“It is not to favour or persecute any person no matter his or her class.”
Meanwhile, a coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has urged the Senate to stop its moves toward amending the Acts establishing the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).
The group said at news conference on Monday in Abuja that the plan would make the two organisations toothless bulldogs.
They noted that the move was aimed at whittling down the powers of the agencies thereby helping the embattled Senate President Bukola Saraki to escape justice.
The 28 CSOs comprises the Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA), and Women Advocate Research and Development Centre (WARDC).
Others included Accountability Maternal New-born and Child Health in Nigeria (AMHiN), Protest to Power Movement and Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC), among others.
Mr Kolawole Banwo, CISLAC Senior Programme Officer, read the statement jointly signed by the groups.
However, they advised the Saraki to step down and face the series of allegations levelled against him in the judiciary.
They explained that the amendment plan was not about making it better to strengthen the anti-corruption fight but rather to halt the momentum in the war against corruption.
The CSOs noted that some of the allegations against Saraki included receiving double salaries long after he ceased to be governor of Kwara, dogged for false and anticipatory declarations of assets and breaching the law by keeping secret foreign accounts in offshore tax heavens.
They said that the senate president was also indicted for forgery of Senate Rules, among others, describing these allegations as weighty that should had compelled Saraki to step down.
According to him, the senate president has insulted the sensibilities of Nigerians by attempting to use the instrument of legislative process to subvert his trial at the CCT.
“The on-going undemocratic, self-serving and dubious attempt by the Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to hasten the passage of the proposed amendment to the law setting up the Code of Conduct Tribunal is a move to help him escape justice.
“It is therefore clear move to amend the legislation in question is not about making it better to strengthen the anti-corruption fight rather it is a clear move to halt the momentum in the war against corruption.
“We condemn the irresponsibility of the senators who have abandoned work on so many critical bills like the Gender Equality to concentrate on the amendment of the CCT Act.
“Key legislations of critical importance to addressing poverty and supporting economic growth have remained dormant for years while all energies are now focused on protecting Senator Saraki,’’ the group said.
The CSOs urged Nigerians to rise up against the unethical behaviour of legislative leaders weakening laws in order to continue to enjoy impunity.
They also appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to withhold his assent when the said Act gets to him.
Besides, they urged the House of Representatives to disassociate themselves from endorsing such “unscrupulous, immoral and illegal mutilation of the Act’’.
“We wish to draw the attention of Nigerians to the end game of the Senate to strip the CCT of the power to sanction corrupt individuals hence they claim that the tribunal was delving into criminal proceedings and criminal trials which was not the intention of the framers,’’ the CSOs said. (
