Posted by From BASHIR UMAR, Abuja on
Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has lent his voice to the raging controversy of whether or not the immunity clause currently being enjoyed by the serving president, the state governors and their deputies be removed,saying he is in support of its removal.
Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has lent his voice to the raging controversy of whether or not the immunity clause currently being enjoyed by the serving president, the state governors and their deputies be removed,saying he is in support of its removal.
Oyinlola's support for the removal of the clause is, however, with a caveat that a mechanism be put in place to checkmate those who might want to use such latitude to constitute a clog in the wheel of progress of the country.
The governor, who made his position known in a statement, said, to him, removing the clause is never a problem but the eventual distractions it would cause the country's developmental quest in the long run.
'One issue that has generated controversies lately is the desirability or otherwise of the immunity clause which protects the president, his vice, governors and deputy governors from litigations during their tenure."
He said the clause was enshrined in the nation's constitution to protect government functionaries from undue encumbrances that might arise from time to time, warning that if the removal was what the people wanted at this point in time, then it must be done with caution.
'I hold the view that if the immunity clause is to be removed from our constitution, measures should be put in place to ensure that those who might want to deliberately constitute formidable clog in the wheel of progress are prevented from a achieving this dangerous objective," he said.
The governor proffered that if eventually the clamour for the removal scales through, then stiffer penalties should be meted out to those who might have been found to have levelled spurious allegations.
'In essence, may I suggest that in the event of the removal of immunity clause, our penal code must impose stiff penalties against those who the law courts may find guilty of willfully instituting frivolous and vexatious petitions and cases against the heads of government with intent to frustrating good governance," he added.
Such a measure, Oyinlola stated, would ensure that only those with facts would approach the courts for arbitration on accounts of constitutional violations by heads of government and their deputies who are currently protected by the constitution of the country.