Senate begins constitution review after Sallah – Sen Omo-Agege

Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege has said that work on altering the constitution will commence after the Sallah break.

Senator Omo-Agege, who chairs the Senate Committee on Review of the 1999 Constitution, disclosed this when two groups – Women Education Advocacy and Development Initiative (WEADI) and League of Women Voters of Nigeria (NILOWV) – paid him courtesy visits in Abuja.

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He stated that rights of women and the girl-child would be protected in the exercise.

He added that his committee would take into account experiences from other African countries.

“Immediately after the Sallah, we are going to hit the ground running with constitution review exercise. And there are a lot of bills dealing with women rights advancement.

“We will take the Ugandan and Rwandan experiences into account to see how we can meet up with the agitation of our women in the constitution review exercise,” he stated.

‘Sexual harassment bill not targeted at lecturers’

Meanwhile, Senator Omo-Agege had said that Sexual Harassment Bill recently passed by the Senate was not targeted at lecturers in higher institutions of learning.

He said the bill was to flush out the few bad eggs tarnishing the image of their colleagues.

The lawmaker regretted that few educators were soiling the image of their colleagues, majority of whom he described as “decent”.

He said: “This bill is not targeted at our lecturers in tertiary institutions. To the extent that it is targeted at anybody, it is targeted at the errant few, the few predators in their midst. And we have them everywhere.

“So, this bill is targeted at the very insignificant few who cause most of these atrocities and we have decided that we should put a stop to it. I am sure that even most of these lecturers know that they are not the target.”

He expressed optimism that given the level of overwhelming support from the Presidency, it would get presidential assent once it receives concurrence from the House of Representatives.

The Bill to Prevent, Prohibit and Redress Sexual Harassment of Students in Tertiary Educational Institutions, 2020, which was passed by the Senate at its sitting on July 7, 2020, prohibits sexual harassment of students in tertiary institutions and prescribes jail term ranging from two to 14 years for various degrees of offences.

Sponsored by the Deputy President of the Senate and co-sponsored by 106 lawmakers, the proposed legislation also prescribes N5 million fine for offenders.

When signed into law, any educator who whistles or winks at a student or makes sexually-complimentary or uncomplimentary remarks about a student’s physique would be liable to two years imprisonment or a fine of N1 million, if found guilty.