The Senate on Thursday concluded debate on the report of the 1999 Constitution Review Committee and will begin voting on Tuesday.
Speaking after all the senators had contributed to the debate, Senate President, David Mark, appealed to senators to attend plenary session early so that voting could begin on time.
Mark urged all committees not to go on oversight on that day, noting that the voting could go on until about 6pm.
The Senate began the debate on Tuesday, where several senators were opposed to some issues like the proposed six-year single tenure, removal of immunity clause but supported local government autonomy.
When the debate resumed on Thursday, Senator Danjuma Goje (PDP-Gombe) said he had previously opposed the local government autonomy, but had now seen the wisdom in allowing local councils to be autonomous.
“I know then that we really frustrated the Senate on this issue, but now I have seen the light and I have seen the wisdom in allowing local governments to be autonomous,” Goje said.
Goje, however, maintained that the human capacity of local governments must be strengthened to ensure that they used funds appropriated to them judiciously.
He said it was unfortunate that no state creation request met the constitutional requirement, but added that the issue of states creating additional local governments should be looked into.
Senator Emmanuel Bwacha (PDP-Taraba), in his contribution, also opposed the removal of immunity for the president and governors, adding that immunity should rather be extended to lawmakers.
“Parliamentarians also need immunity as it is in the French constitution so that we are not distracted from our law making responsibilities,” Bwacha said.
On his part, Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim (ANPP-Yobe) said provision should be made in the constitution for free and compulsory education up to secondary school level, as well as adult education.
According to Ibrahim, this is the only way of eradicating mass illiteracy from the society and ensuring rapid development.
Meanwhile Senator Babajide Omoworare apologised to the Senate over alleged derogatory comments made by him against the Senate.
Omoworare had on Wednesday challenged a ruling of the Senate president and called for a division of vote while the Senate was debating the impasse in Rivers State.
Senator Bello Tukur (PDP-Adamawa) raised a point of order and drew the attention of the Senate to comments credited to Omoworare, who compared what transpired in the Senate to the Governors’ Forum election.
Omoworare explained that he did not mean to cast aspersions on the Senate and that his statement had been misinterpreted.
Mark, however, said that if he (Omoworare) was denying the statement, the issue would be referred to the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges for further investigation.
The lawmaker promptly apologised and the Senate president said his apology was accepted, but advised him to guard against making such derogatory statements against the Senate in future.
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