Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam has called on participants at the North Central zonal public hearing on the review of the 1999 Constitution to pass a vote of confidence on the National Assembly. Suswam made the appeal yesterday in Makurdi at the zonal hearing on the review of the constitution.
The governor said the appeal had become imperative becuase of agitations for the convocation of a sovereign National Conference. He said the position of Benue on the matter was that of “total opposition to such calls as we have complete confidence in our representatives at the National Assembly’’. Suswam said that such calls would have been meaningful in the absence of the national assembly. He described the calls as diversionary and not in the overriding interest of the country.
The governor commended the legislators for the wide consultations but advised them to “meet regularly to discuss common issues that affect the zone’’. Suswam called on them to build on the views expressed from the conference on the review of the constitution to prepare a more people oriented constitution that would stand the challenge of time.
Earlier, the Senate committee chairman on the review of the constitution, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said the exercise was conducted to aggregate the views of the people on the lapses in the Constitution.
Ekweremadu was represented by the sub-committee chairman for the review exercise in the North Central, Senate minority leader, George Akume. He said the review was a leading role of the national assembly. “It has always been predicated on the premise that no document is sacrosanct.’’ Ekweremadu said the desire to present a document that would be people oriented had always been paramount to the legislators.
He said the exercise was a milestone achievement for the incumbent administration since it broke the jinx surrounding constitution amendment in the country.
Ekweremadu appealed to participants to show commitment in their deliberations and be open and frank in their presentations.
Also in a goodwill message, Sen. Zainab Kure from Niger State, said the exercise was in response to the desires of the people for a more people oriented constitution.
She commended the national assembly for the success in completing the first part of the review exercise. Kure said the aggregate summation of the views of the conference would be forwarded to the national assembly for the amendment. The conference was attended by governors of the six states in the zone; Benue, Kwara, Kogi, Plateau, Nasarawa and the FCT.