2019: President, Vice-President to take oath of office in National Assembly

The Senate has passed a Bill for an Act enacting that henceforth, inauguration of the President and Vice-President of Nigeria will be holding at the National Assembly Complex.

The resolution of the Senate came through a report of the Senate Committee on Special Duties which was overwhelming voted for in plenary.

The Bill is sponsored by Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu.

Presenting the report before the lawmakers, Chairman of the Committee, Senator Abdulaziz Nyako informed that the Senate had on Thursday, Dec 8, 2016, deliberated on the general principles of the Bill.

According to him, 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,” he stated.

Presiding on the matter, the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu what the Bill is seeking has been a standard practice in most presidential systems globally.

His words: “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.”