NASS approves amended 1999 Constitution •State Houses of Assembly to make input

Written by Ayodele Adesanmi, Abuja Thursday, 03 June 2010

THE approved harmonised amended 1999 Constitution is set to be sent to the 36 state houses of assembly for their own input.

The Senate President, Mr David Mark, disclosed this on Wednesday immediately the Senate and the House of Representatives approved the amended constitution.

He said: “Today is a historic day in the efforts to review the constitution. The next thing is to forward it to the state houses of assembly. We are going to meet with the speakers of state assemblies to discuss with them. We believe they will expedite action on it and return it.”

An elated Mark thanked senators, especially members of the Senate adhoc committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution, for ensuring the completion of the work.

“I know that your names would be written in gold in the history of this country. It shows that democracy has come to stay in Nigeria, ” he said.

With 85 ‘yes’ vote with no ‘nay’ and abstention, the Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved the harmonised reviewed 1999 Constitution by both chambers.

The clean copy would now be forwarded to the 36 states of the federation for concurrence.

Presenting the harmonised report and major highpoints before the vote, chairman of the adhoc committee and the Deputy Senate President, Mr Ike Ekweremadu, said the bill sought to alter the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, to, among other things, provide for Independent candidates in elections, guaranteeing administrative and financial independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Equally, it would ensure the non-elongation of the term of office of elected officials beyond the constitutional provision and enabling the legislature to empower the vice-president or deputy governor to function as acting president or acting governor in the absence of the occupier of the respective offices for the reasons of vacation, ill health or any other situation of temporary incapacitation.

Ekweremadu said that the committee met several times to critically examine the bills as passed by the two chambers and observed that 50 sections and three schedules of the constitution were affected by the alteration made by the two chambers and that the two chambers passed same version on the following; 10 sections, viz: 81, 75, 121, 222, 223,224, 225, 226, 227, 228; sub-sections: 106(1)d, 285(1).