Peter Esele, a former president of Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Nigeria, has described as parliamentarian rascality and anti-democracy the approval of immunity to legislators by the National Assembly in the ongoing amendment of the 1999 constitution.
Esele made the remark in an exclusive interview with BDSUNDAY in Benin-City, Edo State capital.
An aspirant on the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2016 gubernatorial primaries in Edo State, however, called for the total removal of immunity for all elected political office holders in the country.
He noted that in the alternative, the only immunity that should be accorded the president and governors should be immunity against civil suit and not against criminal suit.
He opined that the approval of immunity for legislators by both the Senate and House of Representatives last Wednesday and Thursday was a violation of democratic tenets.
According to him, “I think it is wrong for them to vote for immunity for themselves. The first thing you need to ask yourself is that these are lawmakers; they are to make laws to govern the country, and once you are mandated to make laws for the country you must also make sure that you don’t make laws to protect or defend yourselves.
“You make laws for the betterment of the country and what has just happened is that they make laws that is for their own selfish interest. Whoever must come with equity must also come with clean hands.
“As they are voted for immunity for themselves why do they not also vote that their position should be tenured? Even if you look at the executive arms it is only the president, Vice President, governors and deputies that have immunity. The ministers and commissioners don’t have any immunity.
“So if they also now want immunity there should be tenure- for example, four years of one tenure or eight years of two tenure. Because in the parliament nobody has tenure; they can be there till they die.”
“So if you are giving yourselves immunity and you remain there, you can also give yourself opportunity to loot, since you are also above the law,” he further said.
He also posited that, “immunity is something that we should even take away from our law whether it is the president or the governor. We should take immunity away from everybody.”
While describing the actions of the National Assembly as distasteful, he observed that if the federal lawmakers can vote for immunity for themselves because they have the people’s mandate to make laws for the country they can also give immunity to Boko Haram.
“It is very sad and distasteful that they would have to go to this length. If they give themselves immunity because they have the power to make laws for the country you are invariably given immunity to Boko Haram, and everybody and then you are going to have anarchy,” he added.
Esele called for the quick sensitisation of Nigerians against the dangers of the actions of the National Assembly members in voting for immunity for themselves, noting however, that with public outcry, the amendment will never see the light of day.
IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, BENIN
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