From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Eighty six civil society organisations have opposed the proposal to grant immunity to legislators and judicial officers through the alteration of section 308 of the 1999 Constitution.
They equally demanded the discontinuation of the immunity currently enjoyed by the Executives.
In a statement by the CSOs, they noted that one of the greatest weaknesses of the Fourth Republic is the immunity clause that protects the President, the Vice President, the Governors and Deputy Governors from prosecution while in office.
They said: “While the original intention of the Constitution was to protect such officers from frivolous suits, in practice, many such office holders have abused the immunity they enjoy by recklessly engaging in criminal activities including corruption and other forms of abuse of office.
“It is for this reason that there have been persistent calls by proponents of good governance to eliminate the clause altogether.
“It is also for this reason that the undersigned organisations and individuals are alarmed by the surreptitious attempt by the National Assembly to expand the immunity clause to cover the legislative and judicial arms of government at both the State and National levels.
“The proposed constitutional amendment has the dangerous potential to widen the non-accountability circle for more public officials and create conditions for the escalation of criminal acts of corruption, abuse of office and breaches of the rule of law as public officials would be emboldened to think they are above the law.
“Although there are many legitimate demands for constitutional amendments by Nigerians, extending the immunity clause has never been part of it. Instead, one of the demands that has featured consistently is for the complete abrogation of the immunity clause.”