The Senate Committee on Constitution Review has bowed to pressures from Nigerians by extending the deadline for memorandum submission to September 18.
The panel had given Nigerians two weeks, which ended on Wednesday, to send in their input for consideration in its proposed review of the 1999 constitution.
The panel’s Secretariat said on Wednesday that the committee postponed the deadline due to enormous pressure mounted by various interest groups physically and through telephone calls to the chairman, who also doubles as the Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo- Agege.
This is just as Omo- Agege, on Wednesday, called on the various interest groups agitating for state creation, to reach out to other geopolitical zones and their lawmakers.
A member of the committee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “We are supposed to stop the collection of memoranda on Wednesday, but a counter directive has been given that such collection should continue till Friday next week, September 18, 2020, apparently due to pressures being mounted on the Committee.”
Meanwhile, 18 additional memoranda were submitted in addition to the 50 others earlier collected by the committee, making the total number 68.
Notable among memoranda were those from the Christian Association of Nigeria, the Movement for creation of Zuma State out of Niger State, Movement for creation of Savana State out of Gombe, Taraba, and Adamawa states.
Others are from Yiaga Africa, Okun Development Association, Benue State Government, Concerned Nurses Association of Nigeria, Urhobo Progressive Union, and Zontai International among others.
