Pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has called on National Assembly as well as the state assemblies across the country to ensure that the sections of the 1999 Constitution meant to be amended are expeditiously addressed and passed between now and January 2023 at the latest.
Afenifere made the call on Thursday in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Comrade Jare Ajayi, even as the pan- Yoruba socio-political group urged the lawmakers to stop the blame game and pass the amendments into Law in order to avoid a case of “begin again for the next Assemblies’ Lawmakers,” as it quickly recalled that the Constitutional Amendments embarked upon by the 8th Assembly went into oblivion because it could not be concluded before the expiration of that Assembly at the end of May 2019.
This was just as Afenifere noted that the 44 Amendments slated for debate and passage were short of expectations, but “certainly better than what we have presently because of some powers they confer on state and local governments in the country,” even as it called for inclusion of State Police on the Amendments list.
“The National Assembly had on March 1, 2022, voted on the 68 amendments recommended by the Joint Senate and House of Representatives’ Special Ad Hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution. But only 44 of the 68 proposed Amendments that the Lawmakers allowed were transmitted to the States’ Houses of Assembly.
“On March 29, 2022, the National Assembly transmitted 44 Constitution alteration Bills to State Houses of Assembly in line with Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution which provides that Bills passed by the National Assembly must be approved by resolutions of the Houses of Assembly in at least 24 out of the country’s 36 States before it is forwarded to the President for assent.
“But as of now, only 16 states out of the minimum of 24 required have considered the amendment bills. This was said to be responsible for the incapacitation by the National Assembly to complete work on it and transmit same to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.
“The states that have considered the amendments were Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Delta, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, Kogi, Benue, Nassarawa, Kaduna, Katsina, and Adamawa.
“States are threatening not to act on the Bills unless four more amendments are considered and passed by the National Assembly. These demands were contained in a letter sent to the National Assembly Joint Committee on Constitutional Review by the Conference of Speakers.
“The four expected amendments are to: Establish State Police; Establish State Judicial Council; Streamline the procedure for removing Presiding Officers of State Houses of Assembly and, Institutionalizing Legislative Bureaucracy in the Constitution,” Afenifere stated.
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Speaking further, the pan- Yoruba socio-political group, recalled that renewed interests were sparked on Monday as the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, at a Lecture in Abuja, urged the Kaduna State governor, Nasir El Rufai, to prevail on his governor colleagues to encourage their respective state Houses of Assembly to transmit back to the National Assembly their responses on the Bills sent to them on the Constitutional Amendments.
Besides, Afenifere noted that the Senate Deputy President and Chairman, Senate Ad hoc Committee on Constitution Review, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, accused the 36 state governors of being behind the non-passage of the 44 Constitution Review Bills transmitted to them by the National Assembly, but said the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria “three days later,” reacted by saying that its members would not be intimidated or blackmailed by anyone.
According to Afenifere, the Speakers’ position was contained in a statement by the Chairman of the Speakers’ Forum, Abubakar Suleiman, who it said maintained that state legislators were closer to the people at the grassroots and were in a better position to know basic and pressing needs of the people; hence their insistence on the inclusion of these items in the amendment Bills.
Afenifere, therefore, urged the National Assembly to factor in the amendments suggested by the Speakers “since the Constitution that included them in the process anticipates their inputs,” even as it posited that proper and timely constitutional amendments can correct many of the lapses in the present Constitution “hence our support for their prompt passage and assent.”
“The Amendments must continue till we get the restructured Nigeria that we desire soonest,” it concluded.
