Dear Senator Opeyemi Bamidele,

The Yoruba Referendum Committee appreciates your intervention in the on-going Constitutional amendment process being undertaken by the current National Assembly of which you are the Senate Leader.

Our response to your interview published in the "Premium Times" on Monday, May 20, 2024, touches on what we consider as the heart of the matter, hence the relevant portions of your statement with our comments are as follows:

QUOTE 1: " It is therefore paramount to critically dissect state police purely from the perspective of political economy. As an approach, political economy literally measures how politics defines the economy and how the economy in turn redefines politics. The interplay of politics and economics, either formally or informally, plays out daily in the conduct of our nation’s affairs. But we rarely emphasize the application of this approach to dissecting the functionality of our federation. This interplay, if methodically applied, can deepen our understanding of the timeless demand for an alternative."



COMMENT: Looking through the prism of political economy means the issue of "state police" cannot be separated or divorced from other aspects bedeviling the country and treated as a stand-alone, otherwise it will make nonsense of political economy itself. Hence, the same political-economic paradigm must be applied to the 36 states making up the Federation. That is, whether the political economy of 36 states is sufficient for a combined and even development of which insecurity is a part. Therefore the question of "state police" is tied to the question of what or who the Federating Unit is. Hence the first problem to be addressed is the make up or configuration of the Federation itself. On the one hand, current states are administrative entities imposed by a Unitary military administration, totally dependent on the Center and can therefore not serve the purposes of a Federation. On the other hand, the Federating Unit may be characterized as "States" or "Regions" and which invariably vests Policing within the Federating Unit thereby rendering the debate on "state police" superfluous. Furthermore, many Nationalities, indigenous to their territories, have been balkanized into different states, where they became minorities thereby exacerbating power conflicts. Their concerns must be addressed.



QUOTE 2:"Unlike the previous political dispensations, this process has not merely spurred renewed debates about our national security architecture and governance structure at large. It has equally elicited public confidence in the resolve of the National Assembly to deliver a fairly recalibrated political order that will bolster the aspirations of all Nigerians, whether poor or rich, old or young. At the end of the review, we all hope the outcome of this process will transform to a new constitutional order that will birth a more functional federal system."

COMMENT: Transforming into a new Constitutional order to birth a more functional federal system cannot be achieved by bureaucratic shuffling of the Constitution through serial amendments but by setting into motion the process of setting up the new Constitutional order.



QUOTE 3: "However, the conversation has gained more traction with the resolve of the National Assembly to review the grundnorm that governs our federation. Unlike the previous exercises, we are not just undertaking another review as the Parliament of the Federal Government. Rather, we are undertaking this national assignment as the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a legislative power derived from Section 4(1-4) of the 1999 Constitution. Under this clause, the National Assembly is vested with the power to specifically “make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Federation or any part thereof…”This power, as enshrined under the provision, distinctly includes the power to amend, review or even produce an entirely new federal constitution that will decisively address our current socio-economic and political realities"



COMMENT : Since the National Assembly is vested with power to specifically “make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Federation or any part thereof…” which includes the power to produce an entirely new Federal Constitution, the question is whether it is better to produce a new Constitution or add another set of amendments, with the probable expectations of future amendments. It is better and profitable to produce a new Constitution because it will address a lot of issues, beyond "state police" and create the necessary nexus between politics and economy. In which case, the National Assembly can start the process towards a Constitutional Convention, especially going by what you said is its resolve to be fundamentally different from earlier amendment exercises.

A Constitutional Convention is necessary because it will address the fundamental question of the Federating Unit as well as doing away with the Unitarism currently passing off as a Federation whilst also reducing or ending the proclivity of each National Assembly to amend the Constitution.



QUOTE 4: "However, the sub-national governments have justified their resolve to create vigilante groups on Section 4(7), which empowers the State House of Assembly “to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the State or any part thereof…”"



COMMENT: making laws for "peace order and good government " requires direct participation of the people now being exercised through periodic elections. Now that the Grundnorm of the country itself is at stake, the people must also have their say. Since this is not about partisan issues, the way for the people to have their say is through a Referendum. This will be in two phases (1) A Referendum within the Federating Unit and (2) a countrywide Referendum to ratify the outcome of the Constitutional Convention.

The state Houses of Assembly can jumpstart the process leading to #1 more so when it tallies with Section 4(7) you referenced. The National Assembly can also inspire, encourage and enable the State Houses of Assembly to pursue this path, if it is to live up to its billing as "not just undertaking another review as the Parliament of the Federal Government. Rather, we are undertaking this national assignment as the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Nigeria."

Thank you.



Editorial Board

Yoruba Referendum Committee