The Senate has it was sad that such a comment came from a revered legal icon.
According to its spokesman, Bashir Ajibola, Babalola might be offering his opinion against his knowledge of the law, as the procedure for amending the constitution to accommodate what he said, was clearly written.
“Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution as amended clearly states the procedure for amendment and as a lawyer, Afe Babalola supposed to know all this. His comment is more political than legal and his suggestions cannot stand in line with modern reality. For instance, pegging the age of political offices is not in tandem with the provision of the Constitution as it stands today and even the America that we are copying doesn’t have such provision in their Constitution.
“On the job of a president is not a bricklayers job, it involves intellect and vision for the development of the country.”
On the part-time legislators, he said the legal luminary appeared not to understand the workings of the legislature.
“We are not only making laws, but we carry out oversight functions. We entertain the views of our constituents because we are not in a military era where somebody with a military fiat will come out with a new system of government without following due process.”
He advised the senior lawyer to wait till the 10th National Assembly before coming up with his personal opinion for consideration.
“All these things would have been suggested during the call for memoranda preparatory to Constitutional amendment. Unfortunately, he did not come up with any suggestions during the ongoing Constitutional amendment.
“If he is so passionate about the suggestion he is making now, he should wait for the next Assembly where he will have opportunity to submit his personal opinion for consideration,” he said.