Senate to revisit controversial child marriage law –Mark *Says, lawmakers were blackmailed Senate President David Mark yesterday admitted that his colleagues were blackmailed along religious lines into reversing an earlier vote on the controversial section 29 (4) (b) of the 1999 Constitution which deals with under-age marriage. He disclosed this when he received a coalition of women Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) Mark dropped the hint that the Senate will revisit the controversial section 29 (4) (b) once the required votes of 73 senators are secured for another round of voting on the matter. Said Mark: “I agree with you in all you have said here. Why we voted publicly was so that everybody will know the stand of every senator on every issue. I think the problem is not whether we can still revisit Section 29(4) (b) or not, that is not the issue. “It is whether we can get the number to be able to delete it. With all due respect, the entire Senate is being castigated. There was and there is still a big misunderstanding of what the Senate is trying to do. “We are on the side of the people. That was why we put it that we should delete it; that is what the people want. So, we in fact, we are the first people to take the right step in the direction of deleting it. It didn’t go through because of other tangential issues that were brought in on the floor of the Senate that are totally inconsequential and the unconnected issues that were brought in. “When we voted at first, we had 85 votes, we were a total of 101, that was the maximum we had, 85 voted, and we just needed about 73, six abstained and did not vote. There was hardly any dissenting voice. “But once it got mixed up with so many other issues, we couldn’t get the 73 anymore. First of all, I think the castigation outside is done out of misunderstanding by the general public, because a religious connotation was brought into it, it became a very sensitive issue. “You must agree with me that in this country, we try as much as possible not to bring in issues that involve faith to our floor or in the chamber. But what is good for a Christian is also good for a Muslim. It is not for a sect or religion. “I think the bottom line is when people get sufficiently educated, we can do a rethink and the Senate agrees, we go back and see whether we can get the required number once more, because that is the solution. “Let me also talk about my brothers and sisters who are senators, who were probably blackmailed. That s the fact because it was in the open. They were simply blackmailed because on that day if they didn’t do what they did, nobody knows what the outcome or the consequences will be today; because people will be saying that this man, you are a Muslim and you did not vote to protect your Islamic interest. “If we don’t hit the nail squarely on the head, we may never get it right. All of them voted at first, but it was okay. Section 29(4) (b) has to do with renunciation of citizenship and nothing to do with religion, but because religion was brought in, it was difficult for people to do otherwise. “If anything else, I think the people should praise us because we are the ones in the forefront of saying remove it. We are now castigated and pictured as paedophiles; that we are raping people. “Pastors and priests are calling and saying ‘you are sitting there and you are passing a bill that we can rape a six-year old girl…’ It is unbelievable! “The important thing is that if we take a step which is wrong, we can retrace it. Again, I must emphasise the fact that 60 senators voted that it should be deleted, but we needed 73. So, we need to convince 13 more Senators to be able to vote and then we get the required number of 73. “I want to sympathise with some of the senators who had been blackmailed to reverse their positions. When they first voted, they took the right step. But this is not the time to apportion blames. It is the time to find the way forward…” Earlier, Minister for Women Affairs, Hajiya Zainab Maina, in company with two former ministers, Mrs Oby Ezekwesili and Mrs Josephine Anenih, wife of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Mrs Maryam Uwais, led a coalition of women NGOs assembled under the aegis of Gender and Constitution Reform Network (GECORN) to the Senate yesterday. GERCON demanded that Senate revisit the vote by deleting the section and urged the leadership to demonstrate both political will and commitment to the attainment of gender equity in Nigeria. Maina yielded the floor to WRAPA Coordinator, Mrs. Saadatu Mahdi, to present the group’s position paper which demanded Senate reverse itself on the clause. Said Mahdi: “ From the moment of birth, the first gift every Nigerian receives from the state is citizenship. To protect this sacred gift of citizenship, we advocate for the deletion of section 29 (4) (b) of the 1999 Constitution. “It’s the desire of all Nigerians, who treasure our citizenship, to remove this provision that provides that young Nigerian girls, who are not old enough to vote or to obtain a driver’s licence, are somehow old enough to renounce their citizenship… “Citizenship is and must remain gender-neutral and safeguarded from any cultural, religious or social interpretations or connotations. The harm of maintaining section 29 (4) (b), which is open to manipulation arising from its ambiguity, far outweighs any arguable benefits a few females might arguably obtain. “We expect the Senate, in particular, and our legislators, in general, to operate from the view of ensuring that the aggregate social good is paramount in all decision-making…We enjoin the Senate leadership to use every avenue within its rules of procedure to cause a revisit of the vote on section 29 (4) (b).” The group dismissed Senator Sani Ahmed Yerima’s claims that deletion of the clause negated Islamic law. “Contrary to the position conveyed for the retention of the section, that under Sharia, a girl, once married, automatically assumes full mental and intellectual capacity, we posit that there is certainly no unanimity of positions on such matters among Islamic jurists. Also speaking, Ezekwesili commended the Senate for being pro-active by deleting the clause with the first vote before it was reversed by a protest from Senator Yerima. “We must give kudos to the Ekweremadu Committee that the clause be deleted and it was first deleted.” Sun
Posted on: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 08:13:04 +0000
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