CONSTITUTION REVIEW: HOUSE SET TO VOTE ON CONFERENCE REPORT

The Deputy Speaker and Chairman Special Ad-hoc Committee on Constitutional Review, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, has announced that the Committee is set to lay the Conference Report before the House for voting upon resumption from the Sallah break. The notice was made public today during sitting. The House, in line with its legislative calendar, is to proceed on a two-week Sallah break and resume plenary on 14th October, 2014. The Deputy Speaker, who presided over Tuesday’s sitting, used the opportunity to call on Members to make themselves available for the voting, adding that it is pertinent so as to capture the true wishes and aspirations of their constituents in the Constitutional review process.  

Also at today’s sitting, Hon. Ifeoluwa prayed the House to condemn the demeaning action of some miscreants who attacked a court and beat up the judge and some judicial officials in Ekiti State. He also requested the House to make an official statement supporting the decision to investigate the matter by the National Judicial Council. The House obliged him but differed deliberations on the matter to the next legislative day. 

Another matter that came up by way of a Constitutional Order was a motion by Hon. Leo Ogor bringing to the attention of the House the unnecessarily lingering report of the Committees on Aid, Debt and Loans and Finance on the one billion dollar ($1bn) loan solicited by President Goodluck Jonathan to assist in tackling and curbing the menace of insurgency in the country. Hon. Ogor stated that the Speaker had earlier directed that the report be made available for the House to consider and either approve or reject. Consequently, the Deputy Speaker again directed that the report be laid before the House on the next legislative day.

Furthermore, the House has passed a resolution mandating its Committee on Water resources to liaise with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to determine the actual amount required for the completion of the water treatment plant and the irrigation at  the Zobe Dam. The Committee is to also ensure that the required funds are included in any Supplementary Budget for 2014 or in Appropriation Act of 2015, for the completion of the project. The resolution came on the heels of a motion moved by Hon. Auwalu Sani.

Hon. Sani expressed concern that due to the non-completion of the project, the Dam has remained under-utilized for more than 30 years and that the communities around the site have seriously being threatened by floods during rainy seasons. He attributed the non-completion of the project to incompetence of the contractors who abandoned it after receiving more than 45% of the money released for the work.