Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and Chairman, Committee on Constitutional Review, Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu on Friday said 305 proposals from Nigerians and 112 bills on various national issues are before the Committee of the House for consideration in the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution.

Hon. Kalu disclosed this while delivering his remarks at the beginning of a 2 Day retreat of the House of Representatives committee on the review of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria organized by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Center (PLAC) and United Kingdom International Development in Ikot Expene, Akwa Ibom State.

The Deputy Speaker highlighted the areas of top priority in the review process including local government autonomy, judiciary, electoral matters, state police, gender, human rights issues, and others.

According to him, the thematic areas have been shared amongst the experts to handle. Local government matters are given to Professor Nuhu M. Jamo, the judiciary assigned to Barr. Mike M. Osuman (SAN); electoral matters to Hon. (Dr.) Samson Osagie; State Policing was given to Dr. Usman Ibrahim to handle; gender issues given to Prof. Anthonia T. Simbine; human rights issues given to Chief Chris Uche (SAN) while other special matters were assigned to Professor Yusuf M. Yusuf to handle.

He explained that the amendment of the Constitution is imperative to conform to Nigerians’ wishes and meet up with the present economic realities.

He said: “In keeping faith with the timeline it set for itself to achieve the first set of amendments by December 2025, the Committee has undertaken the following activities: pre-inaugural meeting; sub-committees on work plan development; inauguration of the Committee; call for memoranda appointment and inauguration of consultants; retreat of the Secretariat and Consultants of the House joint Committee Secretariat and Consultants of both the Senate and the House

“Today, the Committee will now be presented with the outcome of the review of the bills and memos received. The Committee will also engage the citizens from across Nigeria’s six geo-political zones and cap our consultations with a National Public hearing in Abuja before the end of 2024”.

Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio had promised that the 10th National Assembly would produce a constitution that would take into cognisance the collective aspirations of Nigerians, particularly its shape, and unity, and accelerate the country’s development.

He urged the federal lawmakers to be thorough in the ongoing review of the constitution, stressing that every bill and proposal must receive the needed consideration.

While applauding the work of the House committee, Senator Akpabio said that the time has come for Nigerians to take their destiny into their own hands. “I believe that at the end of the day, the Senate and the House of Representatives will create a blueprint that guides us towards a more united and prosperous Nigeria. This journey has just begun in this retreat. So, ladies and gentlemen, the challenges before us are significant, but so are the opportunities.

“This opportunity is to ensure that the bills, all bills we consider and comprehend are fair and reflective of the aspiration of the Nigerian people. We must take into account the diverse perspectives and experiences that make up our great nation. By doing so, we lay a solid foundation for a constitution that truly represents the hope and dreams of every single Nigerian alive”, he said.

Akpabio Charges Lawmakers

The Senate President who said it is time for Nigerians to take our destiny into our hands warned that change will not occur if Nigerians passively wait for someone else or for another institution or for a different time to undertake this venture with all the power to bring about a change ourselves and change the purpose, the trajectory of our new country stressing that we are the ones our country had been waiting for. We are the embodiment of the change our country needs.

He admonished the legislators: “Let us rise to this duty and answer our country’s call, particularly at a time when we have a vice president as a legislator and a president as a legislator, and even the wife of the president as a legislator. This is the right time for us to shape the future of our country through legislation”.

Applauding the work of the House committee, Akpabio said that the time has come for Nigerians to take their destiny into their hands.

He said: “I believe that at the end of the day, the Senate and the House of Representatives will create a blueprint that guides us towards a more united and prosperous Nigeria. This journey has just begun in this retreat. So, ladies and gentlemen, the challenges before us are significant, but so are the opportunities.

“This opportunity is to ensure that the bills, all bills we consider and comprehend are fair and reflective of the aspiration of the Nigerian people.

“We must take into account the diverse perspectives and experiences that make up our great nation. By doing so, we lay a solid foundation for a constitution that truly represents the hope and dreams of every single Nigerian alive.

“Let us rise to this duty and answer our country’s call, particularly at a time when we have a vice president as a legislator a president as a legislator, and even the wife of the president as a legislator. This is the right time for us to shape the future of our country through legislation”.

In his remarks at the retreat, the Governor of Akwa Ibom state, Pastor Umo Eno represented by the deputy governor, Senator Akon Eyakenyi gave his support for the establishment of state police, asking the committee to also consider devolution of powers amongst others.

“The issue of devolution of powers from the center to sub-nationals to make Nigeria a proper federation has been a recurrent decimal since the promulgation of decree 34 of 1966 by the military, which sets the nation on the path of unitary federalism. The result was an overburdened center and over-dependent federating units, thus making it impossible for sub-nationals to look inwards for development in a manner peculiar to their natural endowment and circumstances.

“Thankfully, recent efforts at constitutional amendments have removed some of these bottlenecks. However, a lot remains to be done, especially in the areas of security and revenue allocation.

“At this point in our history, vis-a-vis the seemingly intractable security problems across the nation, I doubt if we can still debate the necessity or otherwise of state police. Experience has shown that a centralized security architecture cannot effectively tackle localized crimes. The creation of state police does not mean the abolition of federal police. Presently, the synergy between the state minister of internal Security and Waterways and security agencies is yielding enormous benefits in the state.

“This particular issue of national importance is, to my mind, a labour test for your committee in particular and the 10th assembly as a whole on revenue allocation. It is an incontrovertible fact that all Nigerians live in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The responsibilities of states are huge and they need more money to meet their obligations.

“More so, in the spirit of federalism, the constitution should make provisions for states to benefit more from natural resources obtained within their territories. I believe a constitution which truly exposes the principles of federalism will help to de-escalate tension in the country, resolve some of our most serious challenges, and bear a prosperous nation”, he said.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria and Oyo State House of Assembly Speaker, Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin said that the conference is more interested in the state police, local government autonomy, resource control, and revenue allocation, devolution of powers to the states amongst others.

His words: “There are fundamental National issues that must be reviewed and considered for constitutional amendments, issues such as state police, local government autonomy, resource control, and revenue allocation, centralization of powers in the center or devolution of powers to state amongst other pressing matters.

“I strongly believe the leadership of the National Assembly and Speakers at the States Assembly will collaborate to ensure the passage of some of these critical issues in the ongoing Sixth Alteration of the Nigeria Constitution especially when critical issues such as security are considered. Let me say for the record that the conference of speakers of state legislators strongly supports the establishment of State Police and other amendments that promote Federalism.

“As Chairman, of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, in this task of Constitutional review process, I want to believe my roles will be multi-dimensional in engaging my colleagues at State levels, the leadership of National Assembly, Governors’ forum and other critical stakeholders in stimulating discussions on some of the identified grey areas moving forward as a Nation”, he said.

The retreat which is the first for the House Committee is expected to receive the reports of experts/consultants of the committee on the appraisal of previous constitution amendment bills, especially those either not passed by the previous national/state Assemblies or were not given presidential assent.

The retreat will also stimulate discussions and place the bills and memoranda received in the public domain, as well as develop new areas of discourse.