Bill to allow NASS to summon President scales second Reading

The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed through second reading a bill to empower the National Assembly to summon the president.

The Constitution alteration bill also seeks to give the State's Houses of Assembly powers to summon their respective governors.

Leading the debate on the Bill, Sergius Ogun (PDP, Esan NorthEast/Esan SouthEast federal constituency of Edo State) said the bill is about deepening accountability.

He cited the controversy that trailed the summoning of President Muhamadu Buhari in November last year and the response of Attorney-General Abubakar Malami.

Malami had argued that the House of Representatives lacks the power to summon the President.

Ogun, in his lead debate, explained that the bill seeks to amend sections 67 and 107 of the 1999 Constitution.

“The bill seeks to amend the principal Act by inserting a new subsection 3 which will read:

“Nothing in this section shall preclude any chamber of the National Assembly from summoning the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from attending the Joint Session of the National Assembly to answer questions on National Security or any issue whatsoever which the National Assembly has powers to make laws.”

He explained that “what this bill intends to do is that if we have powers to make laws for the federation, and for which we appropriate for, we should also have powers to invite or summon the President.”

The motion for the second reading was passed and referred to the Special Constitution Amendment committee of the House