Senate President, Senator David Mark has called on Nigerians to exercise patience with the Federal Government Committee on Amnesty for Boko Haram members, stating that the task before the panel was a Herculean one.
Mark said that the current attempt to amend the 1999 constitution would not be the last, stressing that members of the National Assembly was committed to providing an acceptable constitution.
He said this on Friday, in Lagos at a Working Retreat convened by Senate Committee on Constitution Review.
Mark urged Nigerians to stop condemning the move by the Federal government of setting up an amnesty committee on Boko Haram.
He said,” Why don’t we give the committee a chance now, because we have got to a situation where people don’t just make comments anyhow. This is a very delicate situation and it’s even better for you, the media men not to ask any question on that, because the committee is in charge and the issue is delicate.
“When the matter on Baga came up, I allowed the Senator who is from Baga to inform us and there was no further comment from anybody because we don’t know the facts and we cannot begin to make comments when we don’t know the facts. All we are saying is that for all those human beings to be killed, something has to be done.”
He further stated that “It is not the military that handed over the constitution, there was a constitution drafting committee that prepared the document and the drafters were not military men. There are areas we need to make amendments and this is not going to be the last constitution amendment because as democracy develops and improves, there will be grey areas that people will continue to agitate for amendment. ‘’
On his own part, Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu stated that the constitution review committee had not taken any position on any of the issues for amendment.
His words, “I want to restate that the committee has not taken position on any issue yet. The committee has no such powers. Senate’s position on any matter on proposed amendment can only come by way of voting and resolution in plenary. There will be exhaustive debate to dissect all sides to each proposed amendment.
“Senators will continue to be in touch with their constituents to ensure that they continue to resonate their views on every issue. Live broadcast and online streaming will be encouraged as much as possible to enable Nigerians from all parts to follow the development.”
In addition, Ekweremadu said, “In keeping faith with our timelines, our mission at this retreat, therefore, is essentially review all the bills refer to the Senate Committee on the review of the 1999 constitution by the senate as well as the thematic areas we have been working on in relation to the inputs by Nigerians.
“We are working to dissect the reports of various public hearings and other channels of inputs by Nigerians and articulate a bill to cover especially those issues we appear to have achieved public consensus.”
Continuing, he said, “The committee is mindful of the self- sacrifice and support by Nigerians, which have helped nurture the process to this stage.
“The people of this nation have demonstrated great enthusiasm and commitment to addressing our perceived constitutional deficits through the instrument of constitution amendment,” he added
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