The Senate President, David Mark has bowed to widespread protest that greeted the July 16 Senate constitution amendment vote on Section 29(4)(b) widely interpreted in many quarters as an endorsement of underage marriage as he declared yesterday that the Senate will revisit the matter.
“We (Senators) are not pedophiles”, Mark told a high-powered lobby delegation and insisted that Senators were blackmailed on religious grounds on the constitution amendment vote which sought to delete the “discriminatory” section 29(4)(b) from the Constitution.
The delegation under the auspices of Gender and Constitution Reform Network (GECORN) comprised the Minister for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina; Hajiya Maryam Uwais; former Vice President of the World Bank for Africa and former Education Minister, Obiageli Ezekwesili; Secretary-general of Women’s Right Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA), Mrs Saudatu Mahdi; Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Dr Chidi Anslem Odinkalu; President, Change Managers International, Mrs Felicia Onibon and frontline politician, Josephine Anenih.
The delegation in a position paper presented and submitted to the Senate President demanded the deletion of Section 29(4)(b).
