BEVERLY HILLS, CA, November 14, (THEWILL) – The House of Representatives Thursday passed for second reading an amendment to a bill seeking to increase the National Judicial Council (NJC) powers over suspension, punishment, reinstatement and discipline of judicial officers.
The bill, when it becomes law, will empower the NJC to discipline erring High Court and Appeal Court judges without obtaining approval from the president as it is the case today.
The bill, titled “a bill for an act to amend the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to increase the National Judicial Council’s power over the suspension, punishment, reinstatement and discipline of judicial officers and for other connected matters”, is sponsored by Hon. Karimi Sunday.
Leading debate on the bill, Hon. Sunday said the proposed amendment is for sections 158 and 292 (i) (b) and Article 21 (b) of the Third Schedule of the 1999 constitution (as amended), explaining that based on the provisions of these sections Justices of the High Court and Appeal Court cannot be removed without approval from the president.
He argued that in this age of pervasive corruption even among judicial officers in the country, it was high time the sections be amended to empower NJC to work independently without the President’s approval.
According to him, “in these days of corruption in the judiciary, there is need to empower the NJC to discipline erring judicial officers.”
Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai (PDP, Delta) , who supported the bill, said the bill was timely, stressing that specific attention be paid to two key components ‘suspend’ and ‘reinstate’.
Also on Thursday , the House passed the “bill for an act to amend part II of the companies’ income tax Act, 1990 to include the provisions of tax relief for corporate organisations based on their contributions towards philanthropic and corporate social responsibility initiative and for other matters connected therewith.”
Sponsor of the bill, Hon. Ayo Omidiran (APC, Osun), while leading debate , explained that there was need to grant tax relief to corporate organisations based on their contribution to philanthropic activities.
Saint Mugaga, Abuja
