Supreme Court Stops Passage Of Amended Constitution Into Law

The Supreme Court on Thursday stopped the National Assembly from going ahead to pass into law the Fourth Alteration Act which seeks to amend the 1999 Constitution. The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, who lest six other justices of the apex court to hear the suit filed by the federal government to stop the NASS from overriding President Goodluck Jonathan’s veto on amendments to the constitution specifically warned ‎the parties not to do anything that will affect the subject matter of the suit.

The case has however been adjourned to June 18, 2015. Before adjourning the case, the CJN warned, “Parties should not do anything that will affect the subject matter of the suit.”

The order of the court has effectively killed the threat by the NASS to go ahead to pass the amendments into law, thereby rendering the whole amendments process which gulped billion of Naira a wasted exercise.

In order to stop the National Assembly from going ahead to pass into the controversial amendments to the constitution, the Attorney General of the Federation applied for an order of interlocutotry injunction restraining the lawmakers from taking any further step towards passing the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Fourth Alteration) Act, 2015 into law pending the final determination of the suit earlier filed before the court.

‎The application which was filed by the counsel to the AGF, Chief Bayo Ojo, SAN was brought pursuant to Order 3 Rule 14 of the Supreme Court Rules as amended.

The AGF premised the application on the grounds among others that the National Assembly was determined to proceed with passing the constitution by overriding the veto of same despite the fundamental nature of the issues raised against it.

When the case came up before the court, the CJN sougght clarification on whether the suit was properly instituted saying that the president should have filed the suit by himself and not through the AGF.

According to him, since the dispute is not between the federal government and the federating units, the proper person to file should be the president.

However, FG’s lawyer, Chief Bayo Ojo, SAN maintained that the suit was properly constitutted.

The justices of the court also sought to know whether it was right not to make states’ houses of assembly parties since they participated in the process that resulted in the amendments.

On the next adjourned date, parties in the suit are to address the court on whether the case was properly constituted. (Leadership)