Title of the Article: Whether the Assent of the President is Required for Constitutional Amendment in Nigeria
Author
John Funsho Olorunfemi, LL.B (Hons) Ife; LL.M (Nig); BL. Lecturer, Department of Commercial and Property Law, Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria, Enugu.
Abstract
Unlike now that opinions are likely to differ on the desirability of constitutional amendment for a 6-year single term for the President of Nigeria or State Governors, Nigerians were one on the need to amend the Constitution for better electoral reforms that would enhance a more transparent and fair electoral process. In spite of the cordial relationship between the President and the National Assembly, the recent constitutional amendment has been a subject of legal debate that nearly truncated the entire electoral transition programme not because of disagreement on the subject matters of amendment but on the decision of the National Assembly that presidential assent is not required for constitutional amendment in Nigeria. The reactions that followed the decision of the Federal High Court presided by Hon. Justice Okechukwu Okeke that the constitutional amendment is inchoate until assented to by the President have also shown that the matter may not yet be finally settled. This paper examines the relevant statutory, judicial and available literature on the point at issue and reveals that section 9 of the Nigerian Constitution being the specific provision for constitutional amendment excludes from the general provision under section 58 of the Constitution and therefore concludes that the Constitution never contemplated the requirement of the assent of the President or State Governors hence the absence of any stipulated procedure for veto override by the legislature in the event of the President withholding his assent.