The Senate, Wednesday resolved to
override President Muhammadu Buhari’s veto on the constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (fourth Alteration, No.28) Bill, 2018 and Industrial
Development (Income Tax Relief) Amendment Bill, 2018 respectively.
This development followed the
recommendations by Senate Technical Committee on Declined Assents to Bills By
Mr. President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation
chaired by Senator David Umaru.
The, bill, however, seeks to
provide for the first time within which the President or Governor shall lay the
appropriation bill before the National Assembly or House of Assembly, to
encourage early presentation and passage of Appropriation Bills.
It would be recalled that Buhari
declined assent to the bill, saying section 2(b) and section 3(b) of this bill
appear not to take full cognisance of the provisions of section 58(4) of the
1999 constitution.
But the hallowed chamber took
exemptions to Buhari’s ground for declining his assent wherein he cited section
58(4) of the 1999 constitution.
The committee said, “For clarity,
section 58(4) deals with mode of exercising federal legislative powers:
general, particularly, the number of days to assent or decline assent to a
bill.
“It provides – “Wherein a bill is
presented to the President for assent, he shall within thirty days thereof
signify that he assents or that he withholds assent”.
The 7-man committee, therefore,
explained that the bill in essence seeks to make it mandatory for Mr. President
and Governor of a state to cause to be prepared and laid before parliament,
estimates of the revenues and expenditure of the federation for the next
following year.
The bill, according to the Senate
committee, would also make the parliament to pass the appropriation bill before
the commencement of the next financial year.
The committee added, “The
legislative intent behind this bill is to ensure that we run a normal financial
year”.
For the Income Tax Relief
amendment bill, it seeks to allow companies that expand their operations in
pioneer industry or product to apply for a new pioneer status.
But Buhari declined assent to the
bill on the following grounds:
“That there are ongoing
consultation by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment with
other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on the tax holidays incentive
regime for expansion projects, Investments in rural areas, as well as for Agriculture/Agro-processing
to be concluded and pave way for presidential orders, or executive Bill’s for
consideration and passage by the National Assembly.
“That the consultations would
result in fiscal measures that would greatly enrich the quality of the tax
holidays incentive regime for these types of projects and investments.
“That at the end, thaes fiscal
measures when finalized, would be subsequently submitted to the National
Assembly by way of presidential Executive orders, or executive Bill’s for consideration
and passage into law by the federal legislature, in due course”.
However, the Senate committee in
reaction said, ” Mr. President, Distinguished colleagues, we wish to state here
that the committee finds Mr. President’s observation on this bill rather
simplistic.
“Certainly, Mr. President’s
overall intention to come up with legislative proposal that would stand the
test of time, is commendable.
“However, law-making cannot
unjustly suffer in anticipation of a proposed legislation.
“Above all, nothing stops Mr.
President or anybody for that matter from proposing an amendment to an existing
law or even a repeal of an existing law.
“There is nowhere in the world
where the President can propose to stop the law-making process by an executive
fiat or order.
“The President cannot withhold
assent to a bill on the mere fact that consultations are on-going, which will
enable him come up with a new bill”.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com