State governments have voiced strong opposition to a bill in the House of Representatives seeking to remove the constitutional immunity shielding governors, deputy governors, and the vice president from prosecution for crimes.
The bill, which has passed its second reading, aims to amend Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution, retaining immunity for the President, while stripping it from other top executive officeholders.
On Wednesday at plenary, the House presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, passed the bill through a second reading.
The passage paved the way for its transmission to the House Committee on Constitutional Review for further legislative action.
The proponents of the bill, including its sponsor, Solomon Bob, argued that removing immunity would strengthen the fight against corruption and enhance accountability.
However, state officials and legal experts warned that such a move could lead to politically motivated lawsuits, distractions from governance, and instability in state administrations.
The immunity clause enshrined in Section 308 of the Nigerian Constitution protects the President, governors, and their deputies from legal proceedings while in office.
The provision has been in place to prevent distractions and ensure that elected leaders focus on governance without the threat of litigation.
However, the proposed amendment seeks to retain immunity only for the president, while allowing vice presidents, governors, and deputy governors to face prosecution for alleged misconduct while still in office.
Oyo State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Abiodun Aikomo, said scrapping of immunity by the National Assembly would affect developmental projects across the states.
In an interview with The TheNigerian in Ibadan, the state capital, Aikomo explained that scrapping immunity would distract the executive arm of government from its functions.
He said, “The concern was that if these officials were held criminally responsible for actions taken while in office, they would be distracted from performing their duties.
“That’s why the constitution has given them immunity from prosecution.”
He added, “In law-making, even when you go to court and the court is going to interpret the provision of any law, it looks at what is the mischief in society which the law was introduced to cure.
“So, if someone is in an executive office, instead of distracting that person from doing his work by taking him to court and prosecuting him, the law will say just concentrate on what you are doing, in four or eight years, the work will be over, and you can be asked to come and account for your deal.
“Laying that foundation, I honestly do not think immunity should be scrapped.”
His Ogun State counterpart, Mr Oluwasina Ogungbade (SAN), said the move by the House of Representatives would not enhance the fight against corrupt public officials.
Ogungbade said that if perchance the House succeeded in pulling through with the bill, it would only encourage “a rash of politically motivated allegations of corruption and wrongdoings.”
He said, “I also hope that the removal of immunity for only those proposed will not lead to a rash of politically motivated allegations of corruption and wrongdoings, to achieve unjust and illegal removal from office of elected officials.”
The justice commissioner said he had read the report and wondered why the bill chose to spare the president but went after the governors and their deputies.
He said if the immunity clause would be removed at all, it should apply to the president too.
“I have also read reports about the proposed amendment. My first reaction is to question why the removal is proposed to be limited only to those mentioned. Why is the president not included?
“If immunity is to be removed, then it has to apply to all elected officials without exception.
“However, I have doubts that the proposed removal will have any meaningful impact on the fight against corruption,” he said.
The Ogun AG was, however, quick to add that it was the complete revamp of the criminal justice system, including the investigative techniques and procedures of the major crime agencies, that could help to give the corruption fight a bite and not the removal of the immunity clause.
“I am aware that at the moment, persons who once occupied those offices and have been out of office for years are either still under investigation or prosecution.
“Why is this so? The point is that the immunity clause is really not the problem.
“If we cannot investigate and prosecute people when they are out of office, what assurance is there that we will be able to do so while they are still in office, enjoying all the powers and influence that come with that office?
“My take is that we must simply have a complete revamp of the criminal justice system, including the investigative techniques and procedures of the major crime agencies,” he added.
Defending the bill, Bob, representing Ahoada East/Abua/Odual Federal Constituency of Rivers State, in an exclusive interview with The TheNigerian in December 2024, said the removal of the immunity clause for the concerned public officeholders would breed a less corrupt society.
“With this bill, we want to see a less corrupt society, a less lawless, reckless society and a less undisciplined place.
“We must do away with this notion that we can go after these people when they leave office. What the hell is that?
“If people know that they can be pursued while in office, they’ll be more careful with their actions.
“It is counterintuitive to think that we have to wait until they finish their terms to take action against them,” he said.
Bob also argued that “If the vice president becomes president, even in an acting capacity, he can be entitled to the same immunity that the president has.
“But as vice president, he doesn’t need it. Governors don’t need it. The deputy governors do not need it because, in the first place, how do you give immunity to people who don’t need it?
“The things we permit in this country are not necessary at all. We need to think through these things, analyse them and tell ourselves the truth.”
In the proposed amendment, a new subsection 3 is inserted into Section 308.
“(3) This section applies to a person holding the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Vice President only when acting as President in line with Section 145 of this Constitution.
“(4) The foregoing provisions of this section shall be inapplicable where the person to whom this section applies is acting in an unofficial capacity or where the conduct of the person is beyond the powers of his office or the conduct is criminal in nature.”
In the explanatory memorandum, the bill seeks to alter the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to remove the immunity conferred on the vice president (except when acting as president), state governors and their deputies, and to qualify the immunity conferred on the president.
