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The House of Representatives has described outrage against the immunity bill passed by the House as due to misconception of the motive of the proposed law which it says will be limited only to words spoken during debates on the floor of the House or in committees.

It will be recalled that the bill for an Act to alter the constitution of the Federation Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) by providing immunity for members of the legislature in respect of words spoken or written at the plenary session or at committee proceedings, to guarantee that freedom of speech, debates and proceedings in legislative Houses are not impeached or questioned in any court or place out of parliament and for related matters, scaled through second reading penultimate Thursday.

A similar bill which sought to amend the constitution to grant freedom of speech and legislative Houses actions of members of the National Assembly was consolidated with the bill and approved for further legislative action.

Spokesman of the House, Hon Zakari Mohammed who briefed the press with the co-sponsors of the two bills, Hon Ali Ahmed and Ralph Igbokwe over the weekend, explained that the spirit behind the bill is a passion to strengthen democratic institutions.

"I am disappointed at the controversy the bill is generating. Rather than focus on the intendment of the bill and its merits, the debate is on alleged attempts to create immunity for ourselves. It is not for any other purpose than for actions taken during legislative business", Ahmad said, adding that, "truth of the matter is that our parliament doesn't have any form of immunity as we speak. The only minimal one we have was annulled by the court in 2005. If that is the kind of parliament Nigerians want us to have, then so be it".

In his own contribution, Hon Igbokwe explained further explained, "If a member hits any member on the floor of the House and causes body harm to him, he is liable and will face any sanction for it. The same applies to other offences. This bill is for nothing other than to allow us express our opinion during debates without fear of being sued thereafter".

On safeguards against abuse of such immunity if obtained by members, Igbokwe said standing rules of the House have addressed such scenario against use of offensive words on the floor. 
"Our rules which is also recognised by the Constitution already censored the use of offensive language during debates," he stated.

Spokesman of the House, Hon Zakari Mohammed gave an example of an incident in Malawi where seven Malawians lawmakers are facing trial for treasonable felony over what they said on the floor of the parliament. 

"What we are saying is we don't have to wait until such happens in Nigeria before we take action," he said. 

The lawmakers also noted that the amendment is not different from the provisions of the Legislative Houses Powers and Privileges Act of 1953 which is old and gives very minimal protection  to the Legislature within the legislative house premises.

Lawyers in Abuja have condemned the National Judicial Council (NJC) over the recent sack of Justice Charles Archibong of a Lagos high court over alleged judicial misconduct. Speaking to journalists, one of the lawyers, Mr. Ugochukwu Osuagwu, said the a...

Mrs Sarah Jibrin, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Ethics and Values, on Saturday decried low turnout of  voters during the FCT area councils’ elections.

Jibrin stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja while monitoring elections in Area 8 polling units.

She stressed the need for active participation of all Nigerians in the electoral process, noting that ``Nigerians should not give up, as things will get better with time''.

``There is low turnout of voters, but it is still midday, since the closing time is 4 p.m. But it is obvious that some Nigerians are not willing to give up.

``Those that endeavour to come out and cast their votes, believe that the system will get better in the course of time,’’ Jibrin said.

She called on all Nigerians, especially the youth, who are the most important segment of every nation to make useful contributions for the development of democracy

Jibrin attributed voters’ apathy in the FCT area councils to the security situation in the country.

She expressed the commitment of her office to embark on massive awareness campaign to educate Nigerians on the need to imbibe good values.

``I will continue to encourage youths to take active part in politics because youths are future stakeholders and agents of national security,'' she said.

Meanwhile, the PDP Chairmanship Candidate of Kuje Area Council, Mr Ishaku Shaban, said that the large turnout of voters during the FCT councils’ polls was as a result of adequate sensitisation of electorate.

Shaban made this known on Saturday in Yenche ward polling station, Kuje, while briefing newsmen on the turnout of people for the election.

According to him, although, the previously conducted elections are free and fair, but there is voter apathy.

He observed that there was rumour that PDP had planned to rig the polls, adding that the rumour was not true.

Shaban said, "we employed one-on-one approach in creating relevant awareness for people to participate in the election and vote for PDP in our community.

"It is my hope that people will turn out in their large numbers to vote in future elections to reduce voter apathy in the country.

He also commended INEC for early preparations for the FCT elections, adding that the INEC efforts contributed to the large turnout of voters in the elections. (NAN)