Senate fixes March 1 to vote on report of constitution review

By Ihegazie Chidinma

Senate has fixed Tuesday, March 1, 2022 to vote on the report of its Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of 1999 Constitution.

Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee in the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, gave the hint at the start of plenary on Tuesday, said report on the constitution review would be made available to all senators tomorrow to enable them study it in preparation for voting on the amended clauses.

Omo-Agege, who presided over the plenary in his capacity as the Deputy Senate President, appealed to the lawmakers to study the report ahead of its consideration and ensure they are present during plenary next Tuesday to avail themselves of the opportunity to vote on it.

He affirmed that for some provisions of the report to be considered and voted on, the mandatory two-thirds and four-fifth requirements of the membership of the entire Senate must be meet by the chamber.

Senator Ovie Omo-Agege

“The Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution will meet today, Tuesday, 22nd day of February, 2022, immediately after plenary sitting at room 221 of the Senate building. Please, this meeting is very crucial.

“Tomorrow, the Senate President will announce that the report of the Constitution Review Committee will be laid on Wednesday tomorrow and, thereafter, we will take our vote on March 1st which will be Tuesday.

“That will give us about 4 to 5 days to review the report, consult as we deem fit and be prepared to vote.

“It is imperative that all of our colleagues be present on that day.

“As you know, there are certain amendments that will require the two-thirds majority of all our colleagues – the entire Senate – not two-third of those who are present, but two-thirds of the entire membership of the Senate and, indeed, there are some other provisions that would require four-fifths of the entire Senate.

“So, please, it is my appeal without prejudice to the announcement the Senate President will make tomorrow, in my capacity as the Chairman of the Committee, to urge that all of our members be prepared to be present to cast their vote to cast their vote on Tuesday.

“The report will be laid tomorrow and be made available to all members, which report you will take home and we expect you to bring back to the chamber on Tuesday to cast your vote,” he stressed.