Senate President David Mark Wednesday
opened up on the controversy surrounding the
alleged endorsement of child marriage by the
Senate, explaining that those who voted for the
retention of Section 29 4(b) in the 1999
Constitution were blackmailed to change their
mind under the guise of religion.
Mark, who made the disclosure while receiving
a coalition of women groups that visited the
National Assembly to protest the retention of
Section 29 4(b) by the Senate, regretted that
the Senate was arm twisted to alter its first
vote on the clause during which 85 senators,
which exceeded the required number to get it
deleted from the constitution, had already
voted against the clause.
He spoke a day after his deputy, Senator Ike
Ekweremadu, laboured to explain the decision
of the Senate on the matter, saying the public
misconstrued the intention of the Senate on
section 29 of the constitution.
Ekweremadu, who addressed journalists on
Tuesday in Abuja on the matter, added that the
section does not spell out any marital age for
women as the public now believes.
But giving his narration of the event, Mark,
while playing host to a coalition of women
groups that visited him in Abuja, said the
Senate should be commended instead of being
condemned for daring to take the first lead to
delete the section, which he said was gender
insensitive.
He explained that the parliament had
successfully taken the right step before the
introduction of religious connotation that he
said forced Muslim senators to reverse
themselves.
During voting on the report of the Senate
Committee on the Review of the Constitution
last week, Senator Ahmad Sani (Zamfara West)
had protested the earlier voting, which deleted
the section of the constitution. The section
states that "any woman that is married shall be
deemed to be of full age" while Section 29 (a)
states that "full age is 18 years."
Sani, while seeking the retention of the clause,
said it was against Islamic law to delete it, thus
creating the impression that once the clause is
retained, a woman is free to get married any
time irrespective of her age.
This generated uproar as Nigerians lambasted
the Senate for endorsing child marriage.
However Mark, who promised that the Senate
would attempt to revisit the matter, said the
good intention of the Senate failed when it
could no longer secure the required two-third
majority to carry its intention through.
He also narrated how the entire mood of the
chamber changed the moment religion was
introduced into the voting, making many
senators to reverse themselves.
He said the situation forced some senators
who had earlier taken the right decision to
withdraw and voted against their will, adding
that that was why only 60 senators voted for
the deletion of section 29 of the constitution
after the second voting as against the 85 that
did so earlier.
Mark said: "Why we voted public was that
everybody will know the stand of every senator
on every issue. I think the problem is not
whether we can delete this section 29(4) (b) or
not. That is not the issue; it is whether we can
get the number to be able to delete it. With all
due respect, the entire Senate is being
castigated because there was and there is still a
complete misunderstanding of what the Senate
had tried to do. We are on the side of the
people. That was why we put it that we should
delete it. That was what the people wanted.
"We, in fact, are the first people that took the
step in the right direction to delete it. It didn't
go through because of other tangential issues
that were brought in on the floor of the Senate
which were totally inconsequential issues,
unconnected issues that were brought in.
"We wanted to remove it but it failed. We were
a total of 101 that voted, 85 voted for the
deletion. I think about six or so abstained.
There was hardly any dissenting vote but once
it was mixed up with so many other issues, it
didn't get the required 73 votes anymore.
"So first of all, I think the castigation out there
is done out of misunderstanding but because a
religious connotation was brought into it,
which is a very sensitive issue. And you must
agree with me that in this country, we try as
much as possible not to bring issues that
involve religion to the floor of the Senate and
indeed the chamber. We keep religion
completely out of it because what is good for
a Christian is also good for a Muslim.
"The good of the country is for everybody and
not for a particular religious sect. I think the
bottom line is, when people get more
educated, then we can have a rethink and
probably, if the Senate agrees to go back, we
will see whether we can get the required
number once more because that is the
solution. Let me also talk to my own brothers
and sisters who are senators, who were
probably blackmailed to do it. That is the fact,
because it was in the open. I cannot also hide
it and nobody can hide it. They were simply
blackmailed and on that day, if they didn't do
what they did, nobody knows the outcome or
how the consequences will be today because
the people outside can say this man, you are a
Muslim and you didn't vote for something that
is of Islamic interest because if we don't hit
the nail squarely on the head, we may never
get it right."
While presenting an address on behalf of the
women group under the aegis of Gender and
Constitution Reform Network (GECORN), Mrs.
Saadatu Mahdi said: "From the moment of
birth, the first gift every Nigerian receives
from the state is citizenship. To protect this
sacred gift of citizenship, we advocate the
deletion of section 29 (4) (b) of the 1999
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
It is the desire of all Nigerian girls, who are
not old enough to vote or obtain a driver's
licence, somehow old enough to renounce
their citizenship.
"Nigerians deserve to be protected by their
constitution and so we call for the deletion of
Section 29 4(b). The Senate must remain
impervious to emotional, religious reasoning
and focus on aggregate social good which will
protect and enrich the lives of half of the
nation's population."
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment