Senator Ayogu Eze
The Senate has said that it has not commenced the listing of new states for creation but it expressed its commitment to create new states before the end of the sixth Senate.
It also said that the Electoral Act Amendment Bill would be subjected to a public hearing where Nigerians would decide whether lawmakers could be members of National Executive Committee of their political parties.
Briefing journalists on Thursday, Senate spokesman, Ayogu Eze, denied speculations that the National Assembly had pencilled down some states for consideration in the forthcoming state creation exercise.
“I want to state categorically that there is no list of state creation that has been drawn by the National Assembly. That matter is not being considered right now, but we hope that we will consider it in the life of the sixth National Assembly.
“What we are doing at the moment is that we are receiving requests and collating such requests,” he said.
The Senate spokesman noted that the requests made so far had been referred to the National Assembly’s Committees on the Review of the 1999 Constitution in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
According to him, the committees were collating the facts and keeping the records for an appropriate time when the National Assembly would start the considerations for state creation.
He said that the process of state creation would follow the normal provisions of the Amendment of the Constitution captured in Section 8 and 9 of the Constitution, adding that the National Assembly would also conduct due diligence in ensuring that states met the qualifications.
“The issue is not before the National Assembly right now simply because we want to finish with the issue dealing with the elections,” he said.
On the Electoral Act, he explained that the bill was yet to become law, hence it was too early to assume that the provisions were sealed.
He said, “That law is a law in the process of being made, it is not a law that has been made, so it is good that Nigerians are expressing their views upon it. But I need to state categorically that we are not self serving as Nigerians try to portray us.
“We are not making laws for ourselves because we are not going to stay in National Assembly forever. The battle cry of Nigerians is that they want internal democracy within the political parties and we think that if you key in the legislators within the decision making of the party, you are making it more democratic. You are bringing in more voices, more views, and enlarging the political space within the parties and increasing the participation.”
Source:http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20101119134135
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