A senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mohammed Ndarani Mohammed, has canvassed the removal of Section 308 from the 1999 Constitution (as amended) insisting that the section often referred to as Immunity Clause, “is the spinal cord of corruption in Nigeria.”

In a chat with journalists in Abuja, Mohammed insisted that corruption, which has eaten deep into the fabric of the nation’s democratic governance, is traceable to the immunity clause, and therefore, urged the National Assembly to expunge the section from the Constitution if the fight against corruption must be won.

The section shields the President, Vice President, governors, and deputy governors from criminal prosecution while in office. According to the senior lawyer, the hydra-headed socio-economic and political problems bedevilling the country’s growth are as a result of the immunity enjoyed by key political office holders while in office.  

He submitted: “Some of the problems in this country are caused by governors and their deputies because some of them hide under Section 308 of the Constitution to perpetrate all manner of things.

“Given this, I call on the National Assembly to look at Section 308, nullify it, water it down, strike it down, or remove it to a level, where we can have acountability and responsibility from governors.”