By Dayo Benson
YESTERDAY’S judgment of Federal High Court Lagos which affirmed that the last constitution amendment was inchoate  until  it is assented to by the President has vindicated those who hold that position.

The National Assembly had maintained that the amendment did not require any presidential assent. Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu had once pronounced that the amendment had taken effect as soon as the exercise was completed by the two legislative chambers of the National Assembly.

Legal opinion on the issue was divided. Eminent scholar and constitutional lawyer Prof. Ben Nwabueze, SAN, was among prominent voices that insisted that presidential assent was a constitutional requirement. Former president of the Nigeria Bar Association, Mr. Olisa Agbekoba, SAN, was of similar persuasion.

Perhaps to avoid any constitutional crisis ahead of 2011 general election, Agbekoba had filed a suit at the Federal High Court challenging the legality and validity of the constitution amendment without the President’s signature.

Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoki, SAN, who was expected to have approached the court for constitutional interpretation on the matter was joined as a party to the suit.

In its judgment, the court cited section 58(1) of the 1999 Constitution. According to Section 58 (1) “The power of the National Assembly to make laws shall be exercised by bills passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives and, except as otherwise provided by the subsection (5) of this section, assented to by the President.”

As the court explained in its judgment, since the amendment originated as a Bill, the Constitution requires that presidential assent is part of the process that will make it complete. If there is one thing the judgment has achieved, it is to clear the air on the legality of the last constitution amendment.

The implication is that the exercise and the ongoing one would amount to an effort in futility if the President does not assent to it. It is only when the President withhold assent that the National Assembly can override it after 30 days according to Section 58 (5), which says “Where the President withholds his assent and the bill is again passed by each House by two-thirds majority, the bill shall become law and the assent of the president shall not be required”.

Now that the court of first instance had delivered judgment, any ambiguities on the status of the 1999 Constitution has been removed. Expectedly, the National Assembly had indicated its intention to appeal the judgment.

For now, the judgment of the Federal High Court is the law and it remains so until it is set aside by the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court.

Indeed, until the apex court decides, the matter remains unsettled. But whichever way the pendulum of justice swings at the end of the day, there is no doubt that the nation’s democracy will be the ultimate beneficiary.