The Federal High Court, Lagos, will on Nov. 8 deliver judgment in a suit challenging the National Assembly’s claim that presidential assent was not required to amend the 1999 Constitution.
Justice Okechukwu Okeke fixed the date on Tuesday after conclusion of arguments in the suit by parties involved.
The suit was filed by a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olisa Agbakoba.
Agbakoba sued the National Assembly over its claims that the amendments it recently made on the 1999 Constitution did not require the approval of President Goodluck Jonathan.
The Attorney-General of the Federation is joined in the suit as a defendant.
At the resumed hearing of the case, Agbakoba’s counsel, Emeka Chijioke, urged the court to declare that the amendments on the Constitution by the National Assembly would not become law without the president’s assent.
He argued that any amendment on the constitution without the approval of the president was illegal and unconstitutional.
Chijioke said in view of the provisions of Section 58 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, the president’s assent was a prerequisite to the amendments becoming legal.
According to him, unless the assent of the president is overridden in pursuant to section 58 (5) of the Constitution, Jonathan’s assent is sacrosanct before the amendments can become law.
Counsel to the National Assembly, Johnson Usman, urged the court to strike out the suit on the grounds that it lacked the jurisdiction to entertain it.
He also submitted that Agbakoba lacked the locus standi to institute the suit, and that the suit showed no reasonable cause of action against the AGF.
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