States turn in proposed constitution today
Three
weeks after they received copies of the harmonised version of the
proposed constitution, state legislatures will today submit their
resolutions on the document to the National Assembly, the deputy senate
president, Ike Ekweremadu, announced yesterday.
“The conference of
Speakers of states Assemblies will present the resolutions of the
states assemblies on the constitution (first amendment) bill 2010 to
the leadership of the NASS on Thursday July 8, 2010 at the conference
hall 231, House of Representatives at 12 noon,” Mr. Ekweremadu said in
a statement on Wednesday.
The two chambers
of the National Assembly will be expected to collate the differences
that have been raised by the 36 states over the 60 proposals.
Many state
legislatures have rejected key recommendations of the National Assembly
on contentious sections of the constitution such as independent
candidacy, party defection and qualification for elections.
The states’
decisions surprised earlier expectations that they will promptly grant
block approval or disapproval to the document, without considering
detailed sections of the constitution.
Mr. Ekweremadu did not say which approach will be adopted by the
National Assembly in finalizing the document, but it is expected that
the states’ positions will be considered individually for each section,
in seeking a mandatory 24-state support to win final passage.
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