Ekweremadu opposes submitting amended constitution to president

Ekweremadu who spoke with newsmen in Abuja yesterday, said going by schedule of the committee on review of the constitution, the entire exercise should be concluded by 2013 after which it will be sent to the president for assent.   The Deputy Senate President said he however, does not believe the document requires the president’s […]

Ekweremadu who spoke with newsmen in Abuja yesterday, said going by schedule of the committee on review of the constitution, the entire exercise should be concluded by 2013 after which it will be sent to the president for assent.

 

The Deputy Senate President said he however, does not believe the document requires the president’s assent as it reflects the wishes of the people.

While recalling a similar situation in the US where he said the American Supreme Court ruled that amendment does not require the assent of the president to pass he said the same should apply to Nigeria.

He disclosed that the matter is currently at the Supreme Court to sort out whether the amendment has to be submitted to the president or not to become operational.

Ekweremadu who spoke on the implication of the refusal of Nigeria to appeal the ruling of the International Court of Justice, (ICJ) on the Bakassi issue on the review, said it is premature to determine what will be the fate of Bakassi in the amended constitution as he said the matter is still developing.

He said what is clear now is  the aspect of the judgment of the International Court of Justice which the Nigerian minister of justice said Nigeria has no new issues to canvass.

He said there are however aspects that the review will consider that may include the issue of conducting plebiscite for the people to decide where they want to belong and the current cases of human rights violation going on at the peninsula.

He said for now Nigeria still sends money to Bakassi local government through the Cross Rivers State and Local Government joint account.

Ekweremadu also responded to allegations that he intends to use the on going constitution review process to create an additional state for the South-east from Enugu State.

He said he has no personal interest in the entire exercise other than to serve his country and flayed the governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso for making the allegations saying he is ignorant of how the process is driven.

Ekweremadu said he had initially chosen to ignore Governor Kwankwaso who raised the issue as he expected the governor to withdraw the statement.

He said state creation requires inputs from all and that one person cannot sit in one place and decide what will go round.

“It has to pass through different processes and through the state assemblies in a democratic setting unlike how it was done under the military. Everybody will be involved. Mine is to guide the process,” he stated.

The Deputy Senate President assured that the issue of state creation will be pursued vigorously if that is what the people want.