Amended Constitution Bill missing

The face-off between President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Assembly over the amendment of the 1999 Constitution might fester as the Senate claimed on Thursday that the Amended Constitution Bill was not with the letter sent to the National Assembly by the President.

President Jonathan had in a letter written to National Assembly stated that he was returning the Bill with the letter.

But the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Review of 1999 Constitution, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, said the Bill was missing on Thursday.

Ekweremadu said: “We slated to have two-day retreat to consider the letter and advice 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.

“The committee has asked me to raise this point, 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.

In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, said he will write Jonathan on the development.

Mark urged the President to send the bill to the National Assembly as soon as possible.

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 of this so in writing that we should have it at the earliest possible time.”