Deputy Speaker, Kalu confirms House of Reps is set to end Senate monopoly on confirmation of appointments

Kalu said the House of Reps has received some memoranda to alter the constitution and strip the Senate of the privilege 

By Kehinde Okeowo

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ben Kalu has confirmed that there is an ongoing move by the lower legislative chamber to strip the upper chamber, the Senate of its constitutional powers to confirm appointments.

According to Kalu, the house has received some memoranda to alter the constitution and strip the Red legislative chamber of such privileged.

He made this known during the consideration of a conference report on the South-East Development Commission Bill after a lawmaker, Isiaka Ibrahim (APC, Ogun) raised questions on the monopoly of the Senate on confirmation of appointments.

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Making an observation while reacting to the report on the floor of the house, Ibrahim said, “With due respect, this has now become a recurring decimal, each time we have a conference committee, and it involves the approval for nomination, the senate would always tell us to remove the National Assembly and put the Senate.”

Responding, Kalu disclosed that “it is based on our constitution, and in the course of the ongoing constitution amendment, some have submitted memoranda to amend it that where the senate appears, it should be changed to the National Assembly. That is ongoing in the constitution review.”.

However, some political observers have argued that the move is likely to create a massive showdown between the two Nigerian legislative houses.

According to them, the Senate may have the upper hand as it might decline the bill when it is presented.