Constitution review: Northern senators protest CRC composition

Posted by admin Constitution, Legislature, Senate Friday, September 16th, 2011

Senators yesterday protested the composition of Constitution Review Committee (CRC), 24 hours after its inauguration by Senate President David Mark. Their grouse: The composition may have been influenced by the Presidency while the Northern senators kicked against favouring their female colleagues even as the upper chamber held executive session to placate the senators.

Also, yesterday, the Senate unveiled chairmen of its 56 committees with three former governors losing out. The announcement of the 56 chairmen and their deputies came three months after the seventh Senate was inaugurated. Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu chairs the CRC.

To address the pockets of dissent concerning the composition, the Senate went straight into a closed-door session after the Body of Principal Officers filed into the chamber at exactly 11:40 am. It ended at 12:45pm. Daily Sun gathered that some hours after the Senate President announced the composition of the CRC at Wednesday plenary; some Northern Senators protested the composition, which they believed was skewed in favour of their female counterparts.

President Goodluck Jonathan is proposing an amendment to the 1999 Constitution to change the tenure of the President from two terms of four years to a single term of seven years. The same amendment would allow the tenure of members of the National Assembly change from four to six years without any tenure limit. The President has reiterated that the proposed changes are still at the “level of ideas.”
Regardless, some Northern Senators were also said to have expressed displeasure that all the zonal representatives were allotted to their female counterparts. There was also protest against the trend where one state has two representatives to the detriment of some states.

As announced by the Senate President on Wednesday, the female colleagues are: Senators Nkechi Nwaogu (South East), Helen Esuene (South South), Nenadi Usman (North west), Oluremi Tinubu (South West), Zaynab Kure (North Central) and Aisha Alhassan (North East). In addition, two principal officers, Senator George Akume (Minority Leader) and Ayoola Hosea Agboola (Deputy Majority Whip) represent Special Interest in the CRC. The third member representing Special Interest in the committee is Senator Mohammed Sani Saleh.

That would be the first time three slots would be allotted to those representing ‘Special Interest.’
Some Senators, who are Mark’s known loyalists, also reportedly protested exclusion from the CRC in a committee which has nine out of the 10 principal officers as members. Meanwhile, former governors Chris Ngige (ACN, Anambra), Joshua Dariye (ACN, Plateau) and Danjuma Goje (PDP, Gombe) were named vice-chairmen of committees. Ngige was named vice-chairman of the Power and Steel committee, Dariye got Finance.

Senator Andy Uba chairs the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) while wife of the former Lagos State governor, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, lost out as a committee chairman, but she is vice-chairman of Employment, Labour and Productivity Committee. In the distribution of committees, the North got Appropriation, Senate Services, FCT, Environment and Ecology, Agriculture, Housing and Interior, among others while the South-East got Works, Education, Gas, Media, Aviation, Communications and INEC, etc.
As expected, the North-West clinched the prestigious Appropriation Committee, chaired by Ahmed Maccido (PDP, Sokoto). He was deputy to Senator Iyiola Omisore (PDP, Osun) who did not return to the Senate.

Also promoted is Senate Services committee chairman, Senator Suleiman Adokwe (PDP, Nasarawa) who was deputy to Senator Effiong Dickson Bob (PDP, Akwa Ibom) for four years. Senators who retained their committees are: AbdulAziz Usman (Inter-Parliamentary Affairs); Uche Chukwumerije (Education); Ahmad Lawan (Public Accounts), Wilson Ake (Employment, Labour and Productivity) and Ehigie Uzamere (Local and Foreign Debts).

Special Duties and Millennium Development (MDGs) were also named as standing committees.
The MDGs committee was an Ad-hoc committee in the sixth Senate while the Special Duties committee was not constituted in Mark’s first term as Senate President. Erstwhile Kwara State governor, Senator Bukola Saraki (PDP, Kwara central) got Environment and Ecology while former Nasarawa State Governor, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, chairs Solid Minerals committee.

It was a good showing for female senators as they clinched Grade A committees including Marine Transport, Gas, Industries and Navy. Anambra North senatorial district, which has no representative in the chamber, was not given any committee to chair, but got vice-chairmanship of Co-operation and Integration in Africa and NEPAD. In a breakdown of the committees chaired by opposition parties, Labour Party (LP) got two (Science and Technology and Ethics, Petitions and Privileges).

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) got three slots, which are: Local and Foreign Debts, Privatisation and Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions. The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) got Capital Market while All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA ) chairs the Navy committee.
The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) got the highest number of committees with four slots. They are: Housing, National Identity and National Population, States and Local Governments and the influential Public Accounts.

Some of Senate committees and their chairmen are: Senate Services, (Suleiman Adokwe); Rules and Business, (Ita Enang); Judiciary, (Umaru Dahiru) Special Duties (Clever Ikisikpo); FCT (Smart Adeyemi); Media (Eyinnaya Abaribe); Education (Uche Chukwumerije); Niger Delta (James Manager); Agriculture (Emmanuel Bwacha); Environment (Bukola Saraki); Health (Gyang Dantong); Petroleum Upstream (Emmanuel Paulker); Foreign (Ifeanyi Nwagu) and National Planning (Barnabas Gemade).

Others are; Appropriation (Badamasi Maccido) Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions (Ayo Adeseun); Capital Market (Abdu Yandoma); Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs (Dahiru Awaisu Kuta); Trade & Investment (Odion Ugbesia); Communications (Gilbert Nnaji); Gas (Nkechi Nwaogu); Interior (Atiku Abubakar Bagudu); Industries (Esther Nenadi Usman) INEC (Andy Uba); Land Transport (Sahabi Ya’u); Local & Foreign Debts (Ehigie Uzamere); Marine Transport (Zainab Kure);

Power (Phillip Aduda); Solid Minerals (Abdullahi Adamu); Finance (Bassey Otu); Public Accounts (Ahmed Lawan); Privatisation (Olugbenga Obadara); Police (Paulinus Igwe); Works (Ayogu Eze); Ethics, Petitions and Privileges (Ayo Akinyelure); MDGS (Ali Mohammed Ndume).

-Sunwp_posts