Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has aroused open anger in Senator Dino Melaye as he returned without his assent, four Bills that were earlier passed by the National Assembly.
Shortly after the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki read a letter from Osinbajo on the return of the bills, Senator Melaye, representing Kogi West, expressed outrage, citing the principle of separation of powers.
According to him, the role of the Executive arm is to assent to laws passed by the National Assembly or go to court to seek redress, even as the Senate President said that he would refer the matter to the legal department for advice and interpretations of the law.
The bills which Acting President Osinbajo returned to the Senate unsigned are: the National Lottery Bill 2016, for which he cited the existence of pending legal issues; National Assembly’s power to legislate on the subject matter; the Agricultural Guaranteed Credit Scheme Bill, Dangerous Drugs Amendment Bill and the Currency Conversion and Frozen Order Bill. [myad]
