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Budget row threatens constitution review

By John Alechenu, John Ameh and Oluwole Josiah 

 

David Mark and Aminu Tambuwal
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There were indications on Sunday that the delay in the passage of the 2013 budget will affect the timetable of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review.

Findings by our correspondents indicated that paucity of operational funds had altered the timelines for the exercise.

The committee had slated February 2013  for the drafting of proposed amendments to the 1999 Constitution and meetings with state houses of assembly.

While consultants are providing skeletal services for the proposed amendments, scheduled meeting with the 36 state houses of assembly, is in abeyance following lack of funds.

Faced with this, the committee has called for the altering of the programme of events slated for February because the timeline was “no longer feasible”.

Again, the committee has yet to formally present its report of the  zonal public hearings before the Senate for consideration at plenary.

Clerk of the committee, Mr. Innocent Mebiri, told one of our correspondents that the drafting of the bill was ongoing, but was unlikely to end in February, as earlier proposed.

He said the issues surrounding the budget affected the chances of the committee meeting its timelines.

Mebiri said, “Everybody has been focusing on the budget. Once that is over, we will be able to do something on it. We are working on the draft bill and once we finish, we will present it.”

He, however, expressed optimism that in spite of the delay, the June 2013 scheduled date for the passage of the proposed amendment clauses was still feasible.

“The final timeline of passage will not be missed. That is more important,” he added.

The Ike Ekweremadu-led Constitution Review committee had earlier concluded the identification of issues for the presentation round of amendment in April 2012.

However, the planned retreat to aggregate public views and inputs on issues earlier slated for Janauray, 2013 has yet to hold

Meanwhile, nearly four months after the House of Representatives concluded its public sessions on the constitution review, a member of the House, Mr. Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, on Sunday, warned Nigerians not to expect that the exercise would be easy.

The Peoples Democratic Party lawmaker from Abia State observed that a major obstacle could be “sectional interests” already expressed in the composition of the National Assembly.

He added that there were pressures from political forces at both national and state levels, further compounding the work of the National Assembly.

Nkem-Abonta, a constitutional lawyer, stated that in a federation of 36 states where everyone wanted his interest captured in the constitution, the exercise was more challenging than most people expected.