From Saka Bokaji, Minna
Speakers of states houses of assembly, their deputies and House leaders are to meet in Lagos next week over the review of the 1999 constitution.
The National Assembly committee on the review of the 1999 constitution headed by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu would present the amendments so far made to the constitution to the meeting.
Speaker of the Niger state House of Assembly, Ahmed Marafa Guni ,disclosed this in Minna on Monday when he received the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers Alhaji Ibrahim Umar and scores of his members who protested to the House over the funding of primary schools in the country.
He said: “I want to tell you all that we will be going to Lagos next week to finalise the amendments to the constitution.
He said after the Lagos meeting the final draft of the amended 1999 Constitution would be sent to states houses of assembly for approval.
Marafa did not state what day of the week the meeting would hold or its venue.
He declared : “Let me also inform you that nobody will support autonomy for local governments that will put them in charge of the payment of salaries of primary school teachers” adding that unless state governments took over the payment of primary school teachers they would continue to be owed their entitlement.
Giving reasons why local governments should not be saddled with the payment of teachers’ salaries the Speaker said recently the executive arm of government in the state experimented with the idea of granting financial autonomy to local governments in the state a policy he said failed.
“My local government area, Chanchaga, was among the local government areas that could not pay salaries for three months”.
He assured that “the nation will have no regrets when the 1999 constitution is finally amended.”
He commended the protesters for embarking on the demonstration peacefully which he said had shown the calibre of the leadership of the union.
Chairman of the state chapter of the NUT, Ibrahim Umar, had disclosed that some local governments in the state were owing their staff up to three months’ salary.
Ibrahim Umar also read the address of the National President of the union Comrade Michael Alogba Olukoya.
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