Teaching Constitutional Law Using Real-life Examples: An Example from the Practice of Assent to Bills Passed by the National Assembly After the Tenure of Office of the President and the Assembly
Published date | 01 July 2020 |
DOI | 10.1177/2322005820914567 |
Author | Chukwuka Onyeaku,Tonye Clinton Jaja |
Date | 01 July 2020 |
Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Teaching Constitutional Law
Using Real-life Examples:
An Example from the Practice
of Assent to Bills Passed by the
National Assembly After
the Tenure of Office of the
President and the Assembly
Chukwuka Onyeaku1 and Tonye Clinton Jaja1
Abstract
As a matter of tradition and necessity, teachers of constitutional law within Nigeria (and elsewhere)
are often compelled to refer to case law to provide illustrations of principles of constitutional law as
enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). However, in some
instances, where the said constitution does not provide explicit provisions, teachers of constitutional
law are compelled to cite foreign case law as persuasive precedents. Still there are instances wherein
there are neither foreign case law nor indigenous case law as precedents. In such situations, teachers
of constitutional law are compelled to examine existing case law and relevant legislation until there is
a pronouncement from either the Supreme Court or an alteration of the constitution by the National
Assembly.
One such situation is the subject of the analysis in this article: the situation whereby a president
provides assent to bills after the expiration of the tenure of the National Assembly. As legislative tradition,
the last session of each Chambers of the Nigeria’s National Assembly culminating each legislative term
is usually a valedictory Session. Accordingly, Thursday, 6 June 2019 witnessed the last Session of the
eighth National Assembly. As the president transmitted a Proclamation letter terminating the term of
the eighth National Assembly inaugurated on 9 June 2015, it becomes paramount to examine the legal
and constitutional implications of bills passed by the eighth National Assembly between 2016 and 2018
and up to 5 June 2019, which were assented to by the president after the tenure of the Assembly and
office of the president. Thus, this article examines the constitutionality or otherwise of assenting to
bills passed by the National Assembly and assented to by the president after the expiration of tenure
of their offices. The article argues that the provisions of the 1999 Constitution had been violated when
1 National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, National Assembly, Abuja, Nigeria.
Asian Journal of Legal Education
7(2) 140–151, 2020
© 2020 The West Bengal National
University of Juridical Sciences
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DOI: 10.1177/2322005820914567
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Corresponding author:
Chukwuka Onyeaku, National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, National Assembly, Postal Code:
No.,1 River Niger Street, Maitama, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nigeria.
E-mail: onyeaku@yahoo.com
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