ONE of the assignments the out going session of the National Assembly set for itself very early in the day was to ensure certain sections of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria were amended.

The need for the amendments was also shared by President Goodluck Jonathan who empanelled the Justice Alfa Belgore Committee to codify all previous constitutional conference reports for the Federal Government. The Senate and House of Representatives set up separate committees. The National Assembly found a joint committee approach too acrimonious.

After a tedious and painstaking effort, which involved passage of amendment of certain sections and the concurrence of the State Houses of Assembly, the federal law makers presented a document to President Jonathan late in 2014. Trouble, however, started when the President announced his decision to withhold assent to the document, citing unwholesome procedures in passing some sections and the implications of their interpretations.

An enraged National Assembly started a process of over riding the presidential veto, and the President instructed the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke, to seek the intervention of the Supreme Court.

The National Assembly appeared set to do the unthinkable by over riding the President’s veto though the Supreme Court ordered suspension of action on the process.

Fortunately, President of the Senate, David Alechenu Mark, once again, exerted his statesmanship on his colleagues, and after an executive session, the Senate backed down, saying it does not intend to be a “lawbreaker”.

We commend the Senate for its timely decision not to disobey the Supreme Court for any reason. It is true each arm of government has its constitutional powers, but the separation of powers ensures no arm of government becomes over bearing, or usurps the powers of the other. The Senate would have set a terrible precedent if it rejected the Supreme Court’s effort to interpret the law to settle the disagreement between the Legislature and the Executive. With all three arms cancelling each other out, we would have wound up in a “jungle” of sorts, and still the amendment would never have worked.

It is a pity that such valuable time, efforts and over N4 billion were wasted on this exercise. It made the actors look like amateurs. We must learn the relevant lessons.

In any case, it was unwise to seek to amend so many sections at the same time. The situation would have worsened if the Presidency had made good its intentions to implement the resolutions of the National Conference.

The nation must take a collective decision on what to do to bring the Constitution up to date. It should no longer be the pet project of any arm of government.