Melaye asks senate to override Buhari on Peace Corps bill

Dino Melaye, lawmaker representing Kogi west, has asked the senate to override President Muhammadu Buhari on the bill establishing Peace Corps of Nigeria.

The national assembly had passed the bill but Buhari rejected it, citing duplication of duty and funding challenges.

On Wednesday, Dino Melaye, lawmaker representing Kogi west, raised a point of order on the bill.

Relying on the senate rules, Melaye urged the upper legislative chamber to revisit the bill with a view to veto the president if he failed to rescind his rejection of the bill.

“The same thing happened when the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) was to be established; there was also the same complaint that there was no money and all of that,” he said.

“But today we can see the advantages of the civil defence and how they have helped in safeguarding the government infrastructure. If the Peace Corps is given an opportunity to exist, thousands will be employed and this will help to fight unemployment in this country.

“We may need to write Mr president to review his position if not we have the power on behalf of the Nigerian youths who voted us to veto him so that people will become the ultimate beneficiaries of this bill.

“The youth of this country must be given priority and they must be respected.”

In cases where the president withholds assent to a bill, the national assembly is empowered by the constitution to overrule the veto of the president.

All that needs to be done is for the two chambers – the senate and the house of representatives – to recall the bill and re-pass it. If the bill is passed in the form it was sent to the president by two-third majority vote in both chambers, it automatically becomes a law even without the signature of the president.