Decision on Religious Equity Commission (RECOM) on Hold Delegates at the National Conference have deferred decision on the establishment of the Religious Equity Commission (RECOM) that will be saddled with the responsibility of advocating and enforcing constitutional religious rights such as freedom of religion, freedom to acquire land for religious purposes etc. within the Constitution of Nigeria, 1999. This brings to two the number of issues that are set aside for further consultation in order to reach a consensus. The second issue is the recommendation for the expulsion of the Land Use Act from the Nigerian constitution. The conference decision to defer decisions on any issue except it is based on consensus is in compliance with the Procedural Rules, Order XI rule (1), which states that “All decisions of the Conference of the Plenary and Committee stage shall be reached by consensus, or in the absence of that, the chairman shall at his discretion adjourn proceedings to allow for further consultations.” During debate on recommendations by the committee on religion for the establishment of a Religious Equity Commission (RECOM), some delegates postulate that National Human Rights Commission should be empowered to handle such issues instead of setting up another commission. The delegates opposed to establishment of RECOM argue that establishing such commission will be a duplication of duty and will further bloat government’s recurrent expenditure. In supporting its recommendation for the establishment of RECOM, the committee on Religion passed a vote of no confidence on the National Human Rights Commission which is the statutory body saddled with the responsibility of enforcing and promoting the fundamental human rights enshrined in the Chapter 4 of the 1999 Constitution. The committee on religion believes that the Human Rights Commission has not done much in promoting or protecting the sub-class of religious rights as this may have not been its primary focus. However, Chief Femi Falana disagrees with the Committee that the National Human Rights Commission has not done enough to address the issue of fundamental human rights. He cited the recent case that was successfully handled by the commission which resulted in the conviction of those found guilty for extra-judicial killings. Confab Rejects Government’s Sponsorship of Pilgrimage Another highpoint of Tuesday’s plenary of the national conference is the unanimous decision by delegates of the National Conference through voice votes which gives a stamp of approval to the proposal by the Committee on Religion that government at all levels shall not utilize public funds to sponsor any religious pilgrimage for any category of citizens and government functionaries. This decision was reached after debate on the report of the committee on Religion which was presented by the Co-Chairman, Alhaji Nuruddeen Lemu and Bishop Felix Ajakaye. The conference also agrees to the recommendation that in the exercise of its oversight responsibility to the citizens of Nigeria, the government shall provide normal Consular services for the pilgrims through the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the established Nigerian foreign missions in the relevant destinations. However, there was a sharp disagreement among members on whether the pilgrim welfare boards for Christian and Muslim should be scrapped in view of the fact that the conference has recommended that government should stop funding of pilgrimage.
Posted on: Tue, 27 May 2014 19:56:41 +0000
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