BY BODE GBADEBO, Henry Tyohemba, Abuja and Anayo Onukwugha, Port Harcourt

Demands for state creation, restructuring of the nation’s federal structure, gender inclusiveness and the need for a more credible electoral process are the items dominating the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution at the Senate.



The Senate ad-hoc committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution chaired by the deputy Senate president, Ovie Omo-Agege, in a communiqué issued after a two-day retreat attended by legislators, senior lawyers, academicians and technical consultants to the committee at the weekend.


The communiqué released to journalists yesterday was jointly signed by the chief of staff to Omo-Agege, Dr Otive Igbuzor, and the lead consultant to the Senate ad-hoc committee, Robert Emukpoeruo (SAN).



Omo-Agege, while declaring the retreat open last Friday, said the sole purpose of the event was to review and analyse reports of the 2014 national conference and APC ad-hoc committee on true federalism, including over 280 memoranda received from the public in order to translate them into Bill proposals for the Senate committee.



The retreat, which was convened exactly a year after the Senate ad-hoc committee was constituted and inaugurated in January, 2020, was organised in partnership with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and UN Women, with support of the government of Sweden and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The communiqué noted: “Between then and now, sixty (60) bills for constitutional amendments sponsored by Senators across party lines have been introduced on the floor of the Senate, and over two hundred and fifty (250) memoranda have been received by the Committee from the public.



“The task of the retreat is to work with the technical consultants and other experts to analyse these memoranda and produce concise recommendations that will translate into bills proposals for the Senate Committee.



“The retreat also reviewed and analyzed the 2014 National Conference Report, Report of the APC ad-hoc Committee on True Federalism and other previous reports on improving the Constitution of the Federation.



“The memoranda received from the public on review of the Committee cover diverse issues including gender equality and affirmative action including inclusiveness of women, youth and persons with a disability, devolution of power to the federating units, local government fiscal autonomy, the unfettered autonomy of the judiciary, derivation, streamlining of criteria for qualification for participation in elective offices at all levels”.



It added that the deputy Senate president tasked the technical committee to work towards finalising the constitution review Bill for passage in June 2021 because many Nigerians were expectant of the outcome of the exercise.



Omo-Agege stated that the leadership of the National Assembly has decided to complete and give Nigerians a reviewed constitution within the current legislative term.



Key presentations were made by experts on increasing participation of women in governance, and recommendations that will support women to seek elective offices at the local government, state and federal levels.



Some of the recommendations in the memoranda considered at the retreat cover making constitutional provision for allocation of 35 per cent of political positions reserved for female candidates, and gender inclusiveness in the Constitution.



“The retreat broke into working groups, each group reviewing in details allocated memoranda from the public. At the end of the retreat, all the 254 memoranda were analysed and summarized. Key issues in the memoranda include the creation of states and local governments, restructuring the federation by the review of the derivation principles and legislative powers of the federal, state and local governments.



“The retreat at the closing session received the specific recommendations from the working groups, which will be elaborated by the technical committee towards producing the final report and Bills for the review of the Constitution,” the communiqué added.



It noted that participants commended Omo-Agege on his sterling leadership of the constitution review process and pledged to support the Senate ad-hoc committee to ensure timely revision of the 1999 Constitution
https://leadership.ng/restructuring-state-creation-top-constitution-review/?amp=1