Posted by By Osunde Adesuwa , Abuja on
The Commitee on Media and Public Affairs of the House of Representatives has disclosed that the newly inaugurated Constitution Review Committee will not reject any suggestion or proposal for tenure elongation to three terms of four years.
The Commitee on Media and Public Affairs of the House of Representatives has disclosed that the newly inaugurated Constitution Review Committee will not reject any suggestion or proposal for tenure elongation to three terms of four years.
Deputy chairman of the committee, Hon Labaran Dambatta, while briefing the press yesterday, stated that the Joint Committee on Constitution Review (JCCR) has no plan to reject any proposal for the amendment of the 1999 Constitution, even if it is on the controversial third term topic.
"Everybody is free to submit proposals and there is going to be consultations and so on. And once that issue (third term) comes before the committee, I am sure they will do justice to it. Whatever issue that will come up before that committee will be dealt with."
The last attempt to amend the constitution by the National Assembly in the last dispensation under the chairmanship of Ibrahim Mantu was marred by widespread rejection of the third term proposal.More than 120 areas of amendment were proposed in the ill-fated exercise.
Dambatta assured Nigerians that the National Assembly was determined to produce a constitution that is logical and implementable for the country, and called for cooperation by all.
On whether claims that the insistence by legislators to add their input to the 2009 budget was responsible for the postponement of the presentation of 2009 budget proposals to the National Assembly by President Yar'Adua, the deputy chairman said that the claim was unfounded, adding that budget presentation was at the president's discretion.
Danbatta said the timing for the presentation was at the discretion of the president, the way the House speaker Dimeji Bankole has the liberty to name or sack any of the constitution review panelists in the House.
Reacting to complaints by the Osun State caucus of the House, that they were not consulted before the replacement of Hon Leo Awoyemi (PDP, Osun) in the Constitution Review Committee by Speaker Bankole on Thursday, Dambatta stated that choosing or dropping members of any committee was a discretion.
"Don't forget it is a democracy. Anybody could be a member of any committee. I don't think there is anything wrong if anybody is substituted. There could be a reason. You are a member of any committee at the instance of the Speaker," Danbatta said.
He called on people who are clamouring for the constitution of an ad hoc committee to take over the investigation of the N2.3 billion car scandal to be assured of the integrity of the members as they were doing all in their power to ensure that the investigation is carried out in a transparent manner.
"They are doing a thorough work. Nobody is sweeping anything under the carpet. These are men of high integrity. Almost everyone there is a lawyer.
"Don't forget that the committee is doing its job. Nothing was done in secret. It was transparently done. You were all witnesses to the activities of the committee.
"So the issue of ad-hoc committee does not arise here because here is the committee of the House statutorily set up by the rules of the House and empowered to handle issues of that nature.
"There is no other committee better than that to handle that assignment. I believe that they are people of high integrity. Nobody will question the judgement of members of that committee," he said.