Suswam Gives Condition For Returning To Northern Govs Forum

Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam has given some conditions that would prompt his return to the Northern Governors Forum, saying until he was sure that him and his colleagues could take decision and abide strictly by it, he would not rejoin the fold.

Suswam had angrily called it quits with the forum of Northern governors recently on the ground that he felt betrayed by his colleagues during the election of a new chairman for the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF).

He told State House Correspondents after he met with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja that he did not really vow never to rejoin the forum as being rumoured.

He said until he was confident that he and his colleagues in the forum could agree on a common stance and all stand by it, he would rather not be a member.

Rivers Attack: S’South Youths Apologise To Northern Govs

Youths from the South-South geo-political zone of the country have resolved to apologise and pay visits to governors of four northern states that were recently attacked in Port Harcourt while on a solidarity visit to Rivers State governor, Mr Chibuike Amaechi. The governors include Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Alhaji Sule Lamido (Jigawa) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa).

The four governors were in Port Harcourt to pay a solidarity visit to Rivers State governor and chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Mr Chibuike Amaechi, when protesters believed to be members of the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI) pelted their convoy with stones as they made to leave the VIP Lounge of the airport.

Speaking to journalists in Port Harcourt yesterday, leader of the South-South Youth Democratic Vanguard (SSYDV), Alafaa Princewill, described the attack on the four governors, who are all members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as an embarrassment, which could lead to ethno-religious crisis if not properly handled.

Princewill said, “We met to deliberate on the issue of the embarrassment given to the Northern governors because it is not in our character to embarrass strangers that have come to visit one of our own, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the executive governor of Rivers State.

Underage Marriage: We Were Blackmailed - Mark

The Senate President, Sen. David Mark, on Wednesday in Abuja said that some senators were blackmailed into voting that section 29 (4) (b) be retained in the 1999 Constitution.

Mark said this when he received different women groups under the aegis of Gender and Constitution Reform Network (GECORN), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) who visited him.
Some of the women groups consist of former Ministers of Education, Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili, Mrs Josephine Anenih and Justice Mariam Uwais.

``They were simply blackmailed and on that day, if they didn’t do what they did, nobody knows the outcome or what the consequences will be today.
``The people outside can say this man, you are a Muslim and you didn’t vote for something that is of Islamic interest,’’ Mark said.

The Senate president said that it was the desire of the senate to remove the clause since out of the 101 senators who voted the first time, 85 voted that it should be removed.
 ``There was hardly any dissenting vote the first time but once it got mixed up with so many other issues, it didn’t get the required 73 votes anymore.’’ 

He said that the castigation of the Senate by Nigerians was largely due to misunderstanding.
Mark reiterated that the Senate was on the side of the people and that was why the Constitution Review Committee had recommended the deletion of that clause since it was discriminatory against women.

Mark promised that the Senate would try to re-visit the issue with the aim of deleting the clause from the constitution and stressed the need for Nigerians to get more education on the issue.