The legal dimensions of ‘Padding-Gate’ (II)

Continued from last week Of the three, I submit that the last, i.e., Section 30, is problematic. This is because, by virtue of Section 4(8) of the Constitution Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999: “The exercise of legislative powers by the National Assembly or by a House of Assembly shall be subject to the jurisdiction of […]

Continued from last week

Of the three, I submit that the last, i.e., Section 30, is problematic. This is because, by virtue of Section 4(8) of the Constitution Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999:
“The exercise of legislative powers by the National Assembly or by a House of Assembly shall be subject to the jurisdiction of courts by law and of judicial tribunals established by law, and accordingly, the National Assembly or a House of Assembly shall not enact any law that ousts or purports to oust the jurisdiction of a court of law or of a judicial tribunal established by law”.
This provision was affirmed by the Supreme Court, per Karibi-Whyte, JSC, in ADIGUN vs. ATT-GEN. OF OYO STATE (1987) 18 NSCC pt. 1 pg. 376 @ 399 (in relation to Sec. 4(8) of the 1979 Constitution, which is in pari materia with it).
In respect of Sections 3 and 23 of the Act, I submit as follows:
i. All members of the House, not just its officers, such as Speaker Dogara, Deputy Speaker Suleiman Lasun, Hon. Abdulmumuni Jibrin and the other dramatis personae, i.e., Hon. Ado Doguwa and Leo Ogor, enjoy limited immunity from criminal prosecution for the alleged ‘padding’ of the budget or in respect of anything they might have said within or to the  House or the Appropriation or any other Committee of the House;
ii. This protection extends to words written by them in a report to the House or the said Committee “or in any petition, bill, resolution, motion or question brought or introduced” by them therein in respect of the 2016 Budget;
iii. Similarly, no evidence may be given in any court of law in respect of any debates or other proceedings in the House or of the minutes of evidence taken or documents laid before or proceedings or examination held, before the Appropriation Committee of the House in connection with the 2016 Budget.
That being the case, in my view, it is clear that while the reported threat of police investigation of the alleged ‘padding’ of the budget may be in order, anything beyond that, i.e., the criminal prosecution of any member of the House for alleged complicity therein, will have to contend with the said provisions of Sections 3, 23 and, possibly 30, of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act. However, such a possibility will, having regard to the provisions of Section 32 of the Act, depend on the discretion of the Hon. Attorney-General of the Federation, which he can only exercise “upon information given to him in writing” by Speaker Yakubu Dogara.
Finally, it may be observed, in passing, that were this spat to be going on in any of the State Houses of Assembly, the constitutional validity of the entire Legislative Houses (Powers & Privileges) Act could legitimately be challenged on the ground that, in relation to States, the Act is ultra vires the National Assembly. This is because, whilst the Act is expressed, vide Sections 2, 8(2), 32 & 33 (2)(c) thereof as applicable to State Legislative Houses, i.e., Houses of Assembly of the 36 States and their members, by virtue of Section 4(2) and Item 47 of the Exclusive Legislative List of the Constitution, the National Assembly may only regulate its own powers and the privileges and immunities of its members;  it is incompetent to exercise such powers in respect of State Houses of Assembly or their members. It follows that, to the extent that the National Assembly purports to regulate State Houses of Assembly, the aforesaid provisions of the Act are ultra vires, invalid, null and void. By virtue of Sec. 4(7) (a) of the Constitution, only those Houses of Assembly can validly regulate their own powers, as well as the privileges and immunities of their members.

RIO OLYMPICS AND THE STATE OF OUR SPORTS
In spite of all the negative reports that threatened the games in the months and weeks before it commenced last week, the Rio Olympics in Brazil is proving to be a spectacle to remember for generations to come. In the early hours of Monday, for instance, I stayed glued to my tube as the iconic Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt ran the race of a lifetime to collect his third Olympics Gold medal in as many Games. No other sprinter in history – not even the great Carl Lewis- was able to achieve the same feat.
Barely an hour before Bolt confirmed his legendary status in the sprints; the little known South African Sprinter Wayde Van Nierkerk confounded the world by shattering Michael Johnsons 400 meters world record that had stood for nearly three decades. As he coasted down the stretch to earn his well-deserved victory, I couldn’t help but recall with nostalgia the previous games in which Nigerian quarter-milers like Innocent Egbunike, Sunday Bada and others dazzled the world at previous games.
It seems highly improbable now, but way back at the Barcelona Olympics, two Nigerians -Olapade Adeniken and Davidson Ezinwa – featured in the final of the 100 meters dash. Yesterday, in Rio, no Nigerian qualified for the semi-finals, never mind the finals itself. It seems like the rest of the nation itself, the state of our sports and athletics has steady declined over time. Until recently, Nigeria dominated the sprints on the African continent and during the Commonwealth Games. That is now history. In the finals of the 100 metres which Bolt won to cement his status as an all-time great, two African nations – Botswana and the Ivory Coast – were proudly represented.
And the rot in our sports is certainly likely to continue unless our sports administrators begin to learn how to put the nation ahead of their narrow petty interests. As I write this, Nigeria has failed to qualify for two successive African Cup of Nations for the first time in the history of the event. That was no thanks to the civil war in the ranks of the hierarchy of the Nigeria Football Federation. Like in the rest of the polity, while corruption has long being the bane of our sports, incompetence and mediocrity are also to blame.
The Nigeria male football team is scheduled to play in the semi-finals of the Rio Olympics on Wednesday evening, but the rest of the world is already aware that the feat cannot be attributed to any decent planning by their handlers. In a remarkable gesture that should shame our sports administrators if they know the meaning of the word, a Japanese medical Doctor who was impressed by the team’s efforts in spite of all the massive odds against them caused by the sordid logistic arrangements they had to contend with, has offered to pay each of our players the sum of thirty thousand dollars. That it took a foreigner to recognize the patriotic zeal of our sportsmen is not only a measure of the state of our sports generally, but also the rest of the polity itself. Sad.