House Of Reps Moves To Impeach President Who Ignores NASS Summon

The house of representatives is considering a bill that will grant it power to remove any president who fails to honour its invite.

The bill which will compel a president to appear before the lower legislative chamber when the need arises has passed the second reading.

The constitutional amendment bill was initiated by Sergius Ogun from Edo state.

Similarly, the bill will also grant state houses of assembly the power to summon governors under the same circumstances.

Although it did not overtly state what the punishment for ignoring such summon would be, but TheCable quoted Ogun as saying such offence could lead to  impeachment.

“The penalty is not explicitly stated but that could be the case,” he said.

“When something like this is constitutional, if there is an infraction, it becomes impeachable.”

The bill is sequel to the imbroglio and usual controversies that often surround the legality or otherwise  of the national assembly to summon the president.

In December 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari shunned a summon by the house after Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), said the national assembly does not have the power to summon the president.

“The right of the president to engage the national assembly and appear before it is inherently discretionary to the president and not at the behest of the national assembly,” Malami had said.

At plenary, Ogun, who is a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker, said no provision of the 1999 constitution gives the legislative arm the power to summon either the president or governors on any issue.

“You will recall what happened in January when the House summoned President Muhammadu Buhari but he failed to honour the invitation,” he said.

He said it will ensure that presidents and governors are held accountable on issues of national security, and that it will also entrench the doctrine of separation of power.

The house voted in support of the bill after which it was referred to the ad hoc committee on the review of the 1999 constitution.

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