The
only South West senator that voted in support of the Underage marriage law in
Nigeria has apologized to his people, stating that he voted in error. He prostrated,
wept and plead for forgiveness before the people of the state.
Senator representing Ondo Central, Senator Ayo
Akinyelure ( Ondo Central) on Monday wept and apologized to the people of the state
for supporting underage marriage law.
He
was summoned to a stakeholders’ meeting held at Adegbemile Cultural Central
Hall in Akure, to explain why he backed the law
He
claimed that he mistakenly pressed “NO” instead of “YES” when the lawmakers
embarked on voting since the voting style was electronic.
“Nobody
is above human error. What happened has made me to become wiser, because nobody
is perfect except God. I will like to make the following clarification on the
subject matter to correct the wrong allegations of voting in favour of underage
marriage as widely reported in the national dailies.
Before
this issue occurred, what the Senate considered for determination under the
review of the Nigerian Constitution was renunciation of citizenship under the
Constitution as contained in section 29 (4b) which provides that ‘any woman who
married shall be deemed to be a full age.’ it is worthy of note that full age
has been defined under section 29 (4a) to mean the age of 18 years and above,”
he said.
Senator
Akinyelure and Sen. Ugbesia Odion (Edo Central) were the only two senator from
the Southern part of the country that supported the law which has generated
wide criticism from Nigerians.
