President, VP must be inaugurated in NASS, Senate rules

By Christiana Ekpa

Senate has passed a Bill for an Act seeking to provide for the inauguration of the President and the vice-president at the National Assembly Complex.
The resolution followed the adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Special Duties .
The Bill was sponsored by Deputy President of the Senate, Mr Ike Ekweremadu.
Presenting the report yesterday, chairman of the Committee, Sen. Abdulaziz Nyako said, the Senate had on Thursday, Dec 8, 2016, deliberated on the general principles of the Bill.
“The Bill seeks to provide for the inauguration or swearing in of the President and the Vice-President to be carried out within the confines of the Parliament as it is done in the United States and other democracies of the world.
“This is in recognition of the fact the legislature is the assemblage of the representatives of the entire country and as such, it will not be out of place for such important national event to take place in the National assembly.”
In his remarks, the Deputy President of the Senate, Mr Ike Ekweremadu said this is a standard practice in most presidential systems.
“That is the standard. Because the National Assembly is the symbol of democracy and here is the temple of democracy. It makes every sense that presidents will take oath office within the confines of the highest legislative body in the land under the supervision of the peoples representatives.”