House of Representatives keen on Immunity Removal - VANGUARD

The resolve by the House of Representatives to strip the President and governors of immunity in criminal offences while in office may sail through despite the rejection of same by the upper legislative chamber.

Vanguard gathered from a reliable source, yesterday, that the House of Representatives was determined to ensure that the immunity clause, which shields the President, his vice, governors and their deputies from prosecution, was lifted to make the beneficiaries more responsive to the electorate.

It will be recalled that while the Senate supports the retention of immunity for the current beneficiaries, the House of Representatives had kicked against its retention.

The source, a PDP lawmaker from the North-West, said: "We are only pressing for immunity from criminal breaches and not civil cases, which can wait until the end of the tenure of such office holders.

"We are also opposed to the six-year single tenure being proposed by the Senate and we are ready to confront them during our joint conference committee meeting."

The source said: "We in the lower chamber are ready to use our numerical strength to challenge the senators on all the issues."