A senior Nigerian Lawyer and a human rights activist, Mr Femi Falana, has condemned the move by the Senate to amend the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) Act. He said the move was “so insensitive, suspicious and opportunistic”.While giving his opinion on the state of the nation on Sunday, the lawyer said that whoever contemplated the amendment of the CCB/CCT Act at this point in time decided to provoke Nigerians.
“If a trial of the leader of Senate is going on, you cannot privatise law making in our country. Section four of our constitution has empowered the legislators to make laws for the good governance of the country and law and order. It does not say that ‘thou shall make law to satisfy any individual’, which is what is going on.
“The members of the National Assembly took an oath of office and allegiance to make law for the country and not the individual.
“Why don’t you wait for the conclusion of the case to know if you will amend the law?
“When you lock up the Senate in solidarity with an individual who is standing trial, what point are you making? You will turn round to collect money for abandoning your duty,” Mr Falana Stated.
The illegality of it, he said, was that the section being amended had been captured in the constitution, insisting that “when any law is similar to the provision of the constitution, that law is a duplication and generally regarded as inconsistent with the constitution. If they amend the Act will that affect the constitution? It is an exercise in futility”.