Abuja — Senate yesterday said it would not go back on the 2010 Amended Constitution, insisting all talks on the issue are closed as it had become Nigeria's valid constitution.
This was as Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State called for the strengthening of party mechanisms so that the PDP would be able to set proper standards and monitor their implementation of the letters of its manifesto.

Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, while fielding questions from journalists when he paid solidarity visit to the national leadership of the PDP over last week's inferno, said "we are functus officio" as far as the debate on the amended constitution is concerned.

He said those who are asking for presidential accent to the constitution do not understand the dynamics of constitutional amendment, saying except a law court says otherwise, "the matter is closed".

"The amendment is operational. Until they seek legal interpretation and the courts say otherwise, the amendment has become operational.

"See, our business is to make laws and once those laws are made, we become 'efuntus officio'. We can no longer go into the matter or discuss it anyhow.

"So the law is operational until it is set aside by the court.  We are not going to worry ourselves about those who are asking the courts to interpret what we have done.  As far as we are concerned, we have done our job.

"If anybody thinks otherwise, he or she can go to court and until the court makes a pronouncement on the contrary, it is law and that is what Nigerians will obey," Ekweremadu stressed.

On the extra money being requested by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the deputy Senate boss explained that whatever shortfall they are talking about is irrelevant and could be made up if the National Assembly is satisfied that the commission needs the money.

"They wanted N89 billion and we approved N87 billion. But let him finish the N87 billion first before he come for another one.

"Even though I have personal reservations about the figure, but we need to support them to do a good job. We hope they apply the money appropriately," he stated. Governor Aliyu while speaking on the need for synergy on the activities and programmes of state governors noted that "in every developed democracy, the party is the supreme organ. The party is the foundation. The party screens candidates.

"The party sponsors candidates under its manifesto.  If a governor, let's say from Niger is doing a good thing, we expect all other PDP governors in other states to be doing the same thing because they have a common denominator.

"But where there in emptiness or where there is vacuum everybody now begins to do his own thing to the extent that you find people using other people's manifesto instead of their own," he stated.
Both Ekweremadu and Aliyu, who separately visited the scene of the inferno, expressed shock at the incident but thanked God it did not go beyond the extent it did.

"I am happy that it has come and gone, but I am not too happy with the fire because it has alerted us to know that everybody must do his job.

"The labourer who is in charge of making sure that the lights are off should be sure that all the switches are off, that all the air-conditioners are all off.

"This is what happens in other places-everybody has his own schedule; everybody knows what to do. So, I am happy that we have been baptized and we will not allow it to happen again," Governor Aliyu stated.
On his part, Ekweremadu said the fire incident calls to question some of the measures taken in both public and private buildings, saying that if proper precautions were taken, "some of these things can be better averted.

When people are building houses we should be able to put in place measures to address all these foreseen circumstances. Now that we are building the new every measure should be taken to ensure that will forestall it when they arise.
"Our public building generally should be able to have standard that should be measurable that will ensure that these disasters are addressed at design stage. We need to expedite action to conclude work on the permanent site," the DSP stressed.