Editorial
Senate And Constitution Review
Like every Senate before it since 1999, the Ninth Senate has set up a 56-member committee for the amendment of the 1999 Constitution. The committee, headed by Deputy Senate President, Obarisi Ovie Omo-Agege, may be the Senate’s response to objections and continual whines of the constitution for containing some ambivalence that impede harmony and development of Nigeria.
As the review process starts up, Omo-Agege of the All Progressives Congress (APC, Delta Central) said recommendations of the 2014 National Conference chaired by late former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Idris Kutigi, and the Committee on Restructuring headed by the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, would be evaluated and used as working documents.
Speaking further, the Deputy Senate President said the alteration of the Sixth Schedule, the establishment of National and State Houses of Assembly Pre-election Matters Tribunal, Governorship Pre-election Matters Tribunal and Presidential Pre-election Matters Tribunal including time limits for the disposal of all pre-election matters before the conduct of the general election would be considered as well.
Also to be examined, according to the committee chairman, are devolution of power, full local government fiscal autonomy, full autonomy of the judiciary, youth inclusiveness in governance, and gender parity, among others.
“In carrying out this national assignment, this committee will, no doubt, consider the alteration of the Sixth Schedule to make provision for new items, the establishment of National and State Houses of Assembly Pre-election Matters Tribunal, Governorship Pre-election Matters Tribunal and Presidential Pre-election Matters Tribunal including time limits for the disposal of all pre-election matters before the conduct of the general election,” Omo-Agege said.
It is reasonable that the Senate has, for once, pledged to study the reports of the 2014 National Constitutional Conference and the el-Rufai Restructuring Committee. There were far-reaching deliberations and resolutions on moving the country forward in those reports. We believe it will be wise to initiate relevant bills based on their recommendations in this constitution review activity.
Indeed, the items contemplated for amendment are what Nigerians have always clamoured for all along in previous constitution modifications. But will anything change with this fresh initiative? Will the outcome be acceptable and assented to by the President? This ritual was performed four times in the Fourth Republic, all of which failed woefully to address the crucial issues undermining the country’s corporate existence.
For instance, there are many recurring issues like local government autonomy, devolution of powers, rotation of power at federal and state levels, full autonomy for state Houses of Assembly, electronic voting, state police, and the like, which had the sanction of majority of Nigerians during previous exercises, but they failed to make it to the amended Constitution. It is for this reason Nigerians have always found fault with the 1999 Constitution.
This has led to the screaming advocacy for the complete rejection of the present document in favour of an autochthonous one. The campaign is based on the opprobrious fact that it is dubious and a product of the military regime of Abdulsalami Abubakar, with the counterfeit claim that it was the creation of the people.
Nigeria is eclectic in ethnicity, culture and religion. Therefore, it should be run with deference for these sensibilities through pristine federalism. If this model works for the United States of America (USA), Canada, India and Australia with diversities as ours, why can’t it work for us?
It is explicit that lack of a home-grown constitution has made nation-building complicated; economic growth and development evasive; and social harmony a sisyphean task. Consequently, ethnicity and religion have become divergent points in the Nigerian state.
It was to prevent chaos that the country’s founding fathers adopted the 1963 Constitution entrenched in true federalism. The four regions at the time: West, North, East and Mid-West were the federating units with their own constitutions. Revenue was not shared at the centre. Rather, every region was a wealth creator; developed at its own pace; had its police, controlled its resources and paid royalties to the federal government.
We need a return to this archetype, not a constitutional amendment. So, the National Assembly should begin a process that will hand down a brand new constitution to Nigeria, which would bring it to self-rediscovery. Having borrowed the presidential system from the United States, we ought to have replicated its constitution. Is it not astonishing that while Nigeria has 68 items in the Exclusive Legislative List, the US has only 12 items in its exclusive list, known as Enumerated Powers?
Today, Nigeria has been transformed into a valley of death, largely because of the notorious activities of terrorist groups, bandits, kidnappers and armed robbers, among others. That is why the nation must undertake urgent political restructuring and enthronement of true federalism through the ongoing constitution amendment exercise.
The prolonged suffering of Rivers State pensioners who have remained unpaid since retiring in July 2025 demands urgent executive and legislative intervention. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has rightly put its finger on the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) as the root cause of this crisis. The state government must now bite the bullet, dismantle this failed experiment, and bring the pensioners’ protracted ordeal to an end.
Since July 2025, the affected retirees have been left high and dry, their monthly pensions unpaid, and their dignity worn away. The NLC, under the leadership of Comrade Alex Agwuanwon, has also linked this deplorable situation to the political storm that engulfed the state, while expressing cautious optimism that the prevailing calm will pave the way for the payment of outstanding arrears. The Tide shares that optimism. However, optimism alone will not put food on the table for men and women who gave the best years of their lives to the service of the state.
The genesis of this crisis is not shrouded in mystery. The CPS was introduced in Rivers State in 2012 under the administration of former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, pursuant to the Rivers State Pension Reform Law of that year. The scheme was ostensibly designed to bring the state into line with the federal Pension Reform Act of 2004, which had established a contributory framework for retirement benefits across the country. What was sold as a progressive reform has, in truth, become a millstone round the neck of the very workers it was meant to protect.
The CPS has failed in the state, and it has failed spectacularly. Its fundamental flaw lies in the government’s chronic inability, or unwillingness, to honour its counterpart funding obligations. The arrangement was meant to be a joint endeavour: employees contribute a portion of their salaries, and the employer matches it. But the state has consistently failed to keep its side of the bargain, leaving the pension fund anaemic and unable to meet its obligations. The result is as predictable as it is unconscionable. Retirees are left with only their own contributions to fall back on, a mere pittance that cannot see them through their twilight years.
The human cost of this institutional failure is staggering. Men and women who devoted decades to the civil service now find themselves cast adrift, their legitimate expectation of a secure retirement shattered. The psychological toll of such betrayal is beyond measure. A pension is not an act of charity. It is a contractual obligation, a deferred wage for services already rendered. To withhold it is to break a sacred trust. The authorities must understand that every delay in resolving this crisis costs lives, both in the literal sense as elderly retirees struggle to pay for healthcare and sustenance, and in the figurative sense as the social contract between the state and its workforce wears thinner with each passing month.
This development does not show the government in a favourable light. For a state to allow people who served it with dedication and integrity to languish in penury after retirement is morally indefensible. It sends a chilling message to serving civil servants that loyalty will be repaid with abandonment. This is precisely why organised labour must not rest on its oars. The NLC’s call for the termination of the CPS is not mere grandstanding. It is a necessary corrective. The scheme, as presently administered, is irredeemably broken and must be done away with.
The most damning indictment of the CPS since its inception is its one-sidedness. The government has failed to pay its counterpart funding, reducing the scheme to a hollow shell. Of what use is a contributory arrangement when only one party contributes? Retirees cannot be expected to live on the meagre sums they themselves set aside, sums which have been steadily eroded by inflation and administrative charges. Workers have been short-changed, left to carry the can while the government looked the other way. It is a quiet expropriation of their future.
The time to put this right is now in the interest of justice, equity, and fairness. The NLC should push harder for the swift implementation of its committee’s report to Governor Siminalayi Fubara. That report contains a sensible and pragmatic recommendation: that the CPS should apply only to those employed in the year it was enacted, thereby allowing existing civil servants to remain under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) to which they were originally entitled. This is not a radical proposal. It is a reasonable compromise that recognises the legitimate expectations of long-serving workers and rights the wrongs of the past.
The authorities must act with dispatch. Governor Fubara should, without further ado, send a draft amendment of the Pension Law to the House of Assembly for passage into law. With such legislative intervention, those who retired from July 2025 to date would be returned to the DBS, receiving pensions calculated on their terminal salaries and years of service rather than the paltry sums available under the failed contributory arrangement. The NLC, for its part, should keep its foot on the pedal through dialogue, advocacy, and, if necessary, peaceful protest. Pensioners deserve not just fine words but concrete action.
Rivers State cannot lay claim to be progressive while its retirees are forced to go cap in hand for their rightful entitlements. The measure of any civilised society is how it treats its elderly. By that yardstick, the present situation is a blot on the state’s escutcheon. The government must clear the backlog of arrears, scrap the CPS for the category of workers it should never have applied to, and restore the DBS in full. Nothing less will suffice.
The recent public health disaster in Ondo State, which claimed 48 lives and left 182 people severely ill, is a gloomy reminder of the dangers posed by unregulated beverages. According to NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the victims consumed contaminated local alcoholic and herbal drinks in communities in Odigbo Local Government Area. The drinks contained high levels of industrial methanol, while 11 of 15 samples also contained Cannabis indica. The substances were linked to organ failure, neurological deterioration, and permanent blindness. The tragedy should serve as a warning to the entire country.
The incident underscores the wider problem of unregulated and adulterated drinks across Nigeria. From roadside kiosks and motor parks to informal markets, unverified alcoholic and herbal products are readily available, often marketed as cheap alternatives or medicines. The World Health Organisation estimates that about 25 per cent of alcohol consumed globally is unrecorded. Such products operate outside formal regulatory control and may expose consumers to toxic substances and serious health risks.
The problem is compounded by deliberate evasion of regulatory requirements. Products under NAFDAC’s mandate must be registered and subjected to regulatory checks before manufacture, distribution, or sale. Yet some producers ignore these requirements for profit, while others falsify NAFDAC registration numbers and markings and use them on substandard products. Such practices deceive consumers and undermine public confidence in the regulatory system.
The reported arrest of 15 suspects linked to the Ondo distribution network is an important first step. Those found responsible should be prosecuted and, where convicted, appropriately punished. However, enforcement must go beyond responding to tragedies. NAFDAC should strengthen preventive measures through regular post-market surveillance, random testing at transit points, and intelligence-led inspections of informal production centres.
Consumers also have a responsibility to exercise caution. Economic hardship, high inflation, and declining purchasing power have created opportunities for unscrupulous producers to market cheaper but potentially dangerous products. Consumers should, therefore, avoid unlabelled drinks, suspiciously cheap products, and goods sold through unverified outlets. Public education and consumer vigilance can help deny unscrupulous traders the opportunity to put profit before human life.
The danger extends beyond alcoholic and herbal drinks to medicines. Counterfeit and substandard medicines have entered both formal and informal supply chains, causing treatment failure, poisoning, and avoidable deaths. The WHO estimates that at least one in 10 medicines in low and middle-income countries is substandard or falsified, although the prevalence varies. Ensuring the safety and authenticity of medicines is essential to protecting lives and maintaining confidence in the healthcare system.
Food safety is another concern. Poor practices in food handling, processing, and preservation expose consumers to serious health risks, particularly when commercial interests override safety. Concerns over the improper use of chemical agents such as calcium carbide to accelerate the ripening of fruits further demonstrate the need for stronger monitoring throughout the food-supply chain.
These challenges expose weaknesses in Nigeria’s regulatory system and reinforce the need to strengthen it. NAFDAC faces the enormous task of monitoring products across all 774 local government areas. Meeting this challenge requires greater operational capacity, reduced bureaucratic delays, and modern systems capable of tracking regulated products from production to the point of sale.
Inadequate personnel, laboratory facilities, equipment, and logistics remain major obstacles. NAFDAC field offices, especially those serving remote communities, need modern testing equipment, reliable screening tools, and adequate transportation. The Federal Government should provide sustained funding to recruit specialised personnel, upgrade laboratories, and deploy technologies capable of rapidly detecting dangerous substances such as methanol.
Preventing the spread of adulterated products also requires coordinated action by federal and state governments. The Federal Ministry of Health, NAFDAC, and other relevant agencies should intensify operations to remove unregistered alcoholic and herbal products from motor parks, transit centres, and informal markets. The National Assembly should review existing laws and strengthen penalties for deliberately producing, falsifying, or distributing toxic and unregistered food, beverages, and medicines.
NAFDAC should expand its digital verification systems to enable consumers to confirm product registration before purchase. State ministries of health, local government councils, and community institutions should intensify grassroots education on the dangers of unlabelled drinks, unsafe food practices, and counterfeit medicines. Traditional, religious, and community leaders can also help identify and report illegal production and distribution activities.
The Ondo tragedy must not become another statistic that is quickly forgotten. The loss of 48 lives and the permanent blindness suffered by some survivors are devastating and unacceptable. Nigeria must respond by strengthening regulatory institutions, providing adequate funding, enforcing the law, and educating the public. A sustained, coordinated effort is essential to protect the nation’s food, beverage, and medicine supply chains and prevent another tragedy caused by products that should never have reached the market.