The recommendation for removal of immunity was one of the highlights of the House of Representatives’ Ad hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution report, which was presented to the House by its chairman and deputy speaker, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha, on Thursday.

The immunity clause, as currently enshrined in the nation’s constitution, allows the president and the governors, as well as their deputies, protection from prosecution while in office.The report was based on the demands of Nigerians during the November 10, 2012 People’s Public Sessions on the constitution.The Presidency, however, said the proposal would not sail through.

Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Dr. Ahmed Gulak, told SUNDAY PUNCH in an interview on Friday that the retention of the immunity clause in the constitution was the best thing that could happen to the country.He warned that unscrupulous persons, who were bent on getting at public officials out of sheer envy, would capitalise on the removal of the clause to cause distraction in the system.

Gulak said, “The planned removal of the immunity clause will count, the recommendation will not sail through.“The President, vice-president, governors and their deputies really need immunity. Immunity is the best thing that has happened to this country today.“These public office holders should not be distracted. The removal of immunity will expose them to frivolous litigation by unscrupulous elements that want to get at them out of sheer envy and not based on constructive criticism. “Removal of immunity will not be good for this country. The recommendation will fail.”

Aligning himself with the Presidency’s position, the Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, cautioned against actions that could distract the attention of those saddled with the responsibility of leading the people. Mimiko, who spoke through the state’s Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, said removing the clause would hinder governance in the country.

He said, “Immunity clause is not peculiar to Nigeria. It will mess up governance if it is removed. Those who put the clause in our constitution are not daft. They know governance is a serious business, which should be devoid of distractions. “We should not take any action simply because some people don’t like the face of a president or governor. We should remember posterity in whatever we do.”

The Congress for Progressive Change also said it had always called for removal of the clause. It attributed the spate of impunity in the country to the immunity clause, which excluded the President, vice-president, governors and their deputies from criminal prosecution while in office.

The National Publicity Secretary, CPC, Rotimi Fashakin, told one of our correspondents that the removal became necessary because in a clime where democratic values had not been embraced and entrenched in the national psyche, it would be “very preposterous” to continue to allow immunity clause.

“I’m not surprised that the Presidency rejected it. When you have something that has made you more Nigerian than other Nigerians, you will not support the removal of such. But since it is something that the majority of Nigerians want, then it should go. It doesn’t really matter if the Presidency wants it; it is about the people. This is what is happening in Egypt; it is what the people want that will eventually happen,” Fashakin stated.

http://www.punchng.com/news/presidency-rejects-removal-of-immunity-clause/