A majority of Senators — totalling (up to) two-thirds of members as required for a constitutional amendment — voted to delete clause (b). However, a request for a second vote was made by Senator Ahmed Yerima on the basis that the deletion of that clause was discriminatory against Muslim women, in that Islamic Law permits females to marry under the age of 18. The amendment was once again put to vote — after eventual concession by the Senate President, following an initial objection to a deviation from Parliamentary rules on voting. A majority of Senators once again voted to delete clause (b). However, on this occasion, the required two-thirds majority was not attained, and the amendment was in effect defeated. Our position is that this clause legitimises the exploitation of female children since the effect of clause (b) quite simply is: a. To deem a female to be of-age, simply by virtue of the act of marriage; b. To thus legitimise the marriage of minors. c. To neutralise the provisions of Sections 21 and 31 of the Child Rights Act 2003, which serve to make unlawful marriage to and indeed intercourse with minors, defined simply as a child under the age of 18 years. Whilst it is acknowledged that this vote did not introduce Section 29 (4)b, since it was already in the constitution, it has however highlighted the need for legal protection for minors in the light of what is clearly a huge gap in Nigerian law. Read More
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