The Senate yesterday urged President
Goodluck Jonathan to return to it the rejected Constitution Amendment
Bill complete with the signature page. The call followed the Senate’s
resolution on the matter which mandated the Senate President to formally
write a letter to Jonathan to demand the immediate return the rejected
Bill.
Dr. Jonathan wrote a letter to the
Senate detailing reasons why he cannot accent to the amended
Constitution. It cost taxpayers about N4billion for National Assembly
and the 36 states Houses of Assembly to carry out the amendment.
The resolution followed a motion on personal explanation moved by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu. Ekweremadu who is also the Chairman of
the Senate Adhoc Committee on the review of the Constitution, told the
Senate that a two-day retreat called by the committee to appropriately
study Mr. President’s rejection letter and report back to the Upper
Chamber had to be suspended when it was discovered that the amendment
Bill did not accompany the President’s letter.
Ekweremadu said: “We slated a two-day retreat to consider the letter and advise the Senate appropriately.
“In the course of our sitting yesterday,
we noticed that in the second to the last paragraph of that letter, the
President said he was returning the Bill with the letter. “Unfortunately, the Bill was not
returned with the letter and we could not proceed because we would like
to see the returned bill.”
He added: “The committee has asked me to
raise this point and to request the President of the Senate, to ask the
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to send back the original
copy of the bill as sent to him especially the signature page to enable
us to proceed with our work. “Especially since he had indicated in
his own letter that the letter was accompanied by the Bill, so we would
like to have the bill in its original form, especially the signature
page.”
Senate President David Mark, said he
would act on the resolution of the Senate and write formally to the
President to return the Bill to the Senate “within the earliest possible
time.” Mark said: “It is a personal explanation
so there will be no need to put it to debate. I think the important
thing is that if the floor accepts that I send that letter then I will
write a letter to Mr. President to return the original copy of the Bill
to us.
“This was referred to your committee, so
if that is the decision of the committee then we have little or no
option on the floor here. “There is a bit of urgency on this so in
writing that we should have it at the earliest possible time, we cannot
put a time frame like `within two days or three days’ that would not be
correct. The motion as it is a correct motion without the time frame.”
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