The Nigerian Senate might seek international agencies assistance in sharing the cost of the constitution review process as the N500 million budgeted for the process might not be enough, the deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu has said.

Mr Ekweremadu (PDP Enugu State), who disclosed this during a media briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, however added that the Senate would not be seeking financial, but technical assistance in the process of midwiving the new constitution.

He said the partners being contacted are the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Project (UNDP).

Their involvement Ekweremadu said is expected to reduce the overall cost of the exercise.

He said the senate committee on constitution review, which he chairs, has prepared a time table and drawn out plans to deliver a draft of the reviewed 1999 constitution to the general assembly of the senate in the first quarter of 2010.

The deputy senate president also said his committee has, so far, collected about 50 memoranda with regard to the review and will embark on a retreat in Kaduna, this October, to study the memos. He said the committee will thereafter conduct a national public hearing in Abuja, by the end of October, on the proposed amendments, where those who presented memos will make presentations.

Public hearings will hold the following month, in November, in the nation’s six political zones. “Thereafter, the committee will function in sub committees to examine the report , from all the hearings and memoranda submitted,” he said.

“The sub committees will give feed back to the main committee and lead to a final report and draft bills that will be presented to the Senate’s plenary for consideration and passage in the first quarter of 2010.”

The Uwais Report

Mr. Ekweremadu also said there was nothing sacrosanct about the report prepared for the Federal Government by the Mohammed Uwais panel on electoral reform, even though the panel’s report formed the core of the Federal Government’s recommendation to the senate.

“We are not restricting ourselves to (the) Uwais report, but we will look at it as a guide to what we are doing,” he said. “Those aspects (of the Uwais report) that are relevant to our democracy will be looked at critically to see how they will be adopted in the constitution review.”

He added that the recommendations offered by the Uwais report are suggestions and will be treated the same way as other suggestions and memoranda that the committee will receive.

The senate leader also said his committee will ensure that all views are taken into consideration in the amendment process. He said even the views of people in rural areas will be accommodated, as his committee has asked all senators to discuss with their people during the vacation.

Most senators, however, are not spending their current vacation in their constituencies and even when “in town”, there is no engagement with their constituents.

He also said the leadership of the state houses of assemblies will be involved in the process right from the start, which means they will be invited to the retreat that will hold in Kaduna next month.

An eye on 2011

Mr. Ekweremadu said he was optimistic that Nigeria would conduct the next general elections in 2011 with a brand new constitution, although the House of Representatives is holding a parallel review.

The lower house had organised separate public hearings on constitution review early last month and went ahead to discuss two bills that were, before now, discarded by the senate.

It would be recalled that the senate discarded a bill to establish a political party registration agency and another bill seeking to amend the act establishing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The 1999 constitution however stipulates that both houses must agree for any constitutional amendment to be effective.

http://www.234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/National/5451534-146/story.csp

Naija!

But these people do receive salaries and other benefits na.

Does anyone know the number of people in this committee that 500 million is not enough for them to use?

For the sake of patriotism don't we know how to save costs anymore in Nigeria?

they don embezzle all the money finish

Imagine that!

I hail o o o

One day sha this money go run out.

constitution, is not Nigeria major problem

Bizmen in politics.

They finished 1 billion now they want another 500 million.

jamace:

Bizmen in politics.

yea right

A bunch of kleptomaniacs. Posterity will judge them all.