The Senate yesterday passed for second reading a bill seeking to alter provisions of the constitution to qualify criminal liability for certain public officers under Section 308.
Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides immunity for sitting president, vice president, governors and their deputies.
If the proposed legislation is passed, vice president, governors and their deputies would lose immunity from criminal liability when the offence involves misappropriation of public funds or incitement to violence.
The proposed alteration, however, does not affect a sitting president.
The explanatory memorandum of the bill, sponsored by Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege, reads: “This act provides for qualification of the immunity clause to exclude immunity for public officers referred to in Section 308 from criminal liability where the offence involves misappropriation of funds belonging to the Federal, State or Local Governments and also the use of thugs to foment violence.”
