Politics
Still On Constitution Amendment
Since the return of democratic governance in the country, Nigerians have been clamouring for a constitution that will truly reflect the wishes and aspirations of the people. The 1999 constitution which was inherited from the military was charcterised by so many contradictions and sufficiently deficient of democratic ideals. As a result some sections of the Nigerian populace have been calling for sovereign national conference to discuss and decide the essence of their union as a nation.
But the National Assembly has repeatedly disagreed with this school of thought, saying that the legislative arm which is an embodiment of representative democracy is qualified and competent to tackle the issues bothering on the unity and progress of the Nigerian state.
Therefore, an attempt was made by the National Assembly in 2005 to review the Nigerian constitution to address some of the grey areas that were identified by the legislators and the Nigerian public in general. The Constitution Review Committee under the leadership of the then Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, having traversed the length and breadth of the country to canvass for people’s opinions and contributions came up with 120 recommendations, including the vexatious issue of tenure elongation for former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Because of the selfish interest of the proponents of tenure elongation for Chief Obasanjo as they failed to ascertain the mould of the Nigerian masses who were yearning for a better and responsive leadership, the National Assembly was tense and polarized to the extent that it was naturally reasonable to throw out the entire bill on the proposed constitution review.
But the need for the constitution to be reviewed came up stronger and received the attention of the last National Assembly. Consequently, a Constitution Review Committee, headed by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu was set up to address the salient issues. At the end of the exercise there were positive outcomes such as, making primary election mandatory for political parties; the granting of financial autonomy to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), fixing of specific time-frame for treating of election petitions etc. The amendments of these constitutional provisions actually played significant role in sanitizing the nation’s electoral system to considerable extent in the last two years.
Although there is much to be done in this regard, we must start from somewhere in our quest to build a solid electoral system as a basis for a virile and credible democratic culture.
Again, in a bid to do a thorough job the 7th National Assembly constituted another Constitution Review Committee under leadership of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekwerenmadu to draw up a bill on proposed amendment of the constitution.
It is interesting to note that the committee has carried out its assignment within the time-frame and Nigerians are waiting for the Senate to commence debate on the bill.
Speaking in Abuja, at a symposium on “The review of the 1999 constitution and its impact on much-needed judicial reforms,” organised by a group known as Rule of Law Foundation, the chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, Senator Ike Ekweremadu gave snippets of some of the recommendations of the committee which include, the separation of the office of the Attorney-General (AG) of the federation from that of Minister of Justice, seven years tenure for Attorney-General; financial autonomy for the AG as funds for the office will be made available from the consolidated revenue fund; conferment of powers on the AG to investigate certain crimes and removal of the Chief Justice of Nigeria and other serving judicial officers as members of the Federal Judicial Service Commission.
The committee’s recommendations also cover the devolution of powers, creation of more states, recognition of six geo-political zones in the constitution, constitutional role for traditional rulers and local government councils as well as the need to expunge the Land Use Act, the National Youth Service Corps Act and the Public Complaints Act from the Constitution.
Others are single term of six years for the president and governors, fiscal federalism, financial autonomy for local government councils, state electoral bodies and assemblies, the immunity clause, Nigeria Police, rotation of executive officers, gender and special groups, mayoral for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), residency and indigene provisions.
Ekweremadu explained that the constitution would not be subjected to referendum, noting that the constitution specified how it should be amended and that did not include referendum.
He stressed the need for urgent reform of the judiciary.
“With a morally upright and well-reformed judiciary that applies the letters of the law fairly and timely, the systems manipulation, over-heating of our polity, reign of impurity in high and low places, the blatant disrespect for the law and rape of public treasury would abate considerately.
He said that the proposal for judicial reform submitted by former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mustapher was being considered.
In his key-note address, Justice Musdapher stated that the breakdown of law and order in the North-East might not be unconnected with the fact that people had lost faith in the nation’s laws and the justice delivery system.
He said that there was an urgent need to pass the bill for amendment of certain provisions of the constitution that affected the judiciary.
But one issue that has continued to attract national discourse since the recommendations of the committee became public knowledge is the single tenure for the president and governors. Majority of Nigerians that have criticised this recommendation are of the view that it will increase the rate of corruption in the country.
According to them, for a political office-holder who knows that he has a single term the chances are that he may not be useful to the people who elected him into office. They have argued that the country will be worse off in all facets of its national life as little attention will be paid to developmental needs of the people.
Moreso, the lawmakers who are constitutionally empowered to check the excesses of the chief executive will not muster the courage to initiate impeachment proceedings against them since they are equally interested in the spoils of office.
However, there are other issues that should occupy the minds of Nigerians apart from the single tenure. Devolution of powers and fiscal federalism are some of these issues that should be properly addressed by our elected representatives. A situation where so much powers are concentrated at the centre is not in the interest of the federating units.
The president of the country is so powerful that his action or inaction has a multiplier effect on the destiny of this nation. It is an axiom that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Therefore, it is imperative for the National Assembly to critically examine the need for devolution of powers to strengthen and deepen the nation’s democracy.
Another issue that should be given adequate attention is fiscal federalism. It is not justifiable that the federal government should be receiving over 50% of the monthly allocations from the federation account while the 36 states and 774 local government councils in the country should have something less to attend to their numerous financial obligations. It is obvious that the burden of development lies with the second and third tiers of government that are visibly closer to the people. It is morally sound that the states and local government areas that generate these resources should have greater chunk of the revenue. We cannot continue to run a system where federal institutions and projects are poorly funded, abandoned or in deplorable state in spite of the huge budgetary allocations that are available to the federal government to address these problems.
Mighty glad, Nigeria has experienced over fourteen years of uninterrupted democracy, it is incumbent on the law-makers who are major beneficiaries of democratic governance in Nigeria to rise to the occasion by tackling some of these issues headlong and dispassionately.
Therefore, it is expected that the National Assembly will grab this opportunity with both hands and come up with a constitution that will reflect the wishes and aspirations of greeter majority of Nigeria.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has begun deploying non-sensitive materials to the zones as it prepares for the 2027 general election.
Acting Chairman of the commission, Prof. Rhoda Gumus, disclosed this in Abuja, yesterday at a bench-marking meeting with a delegation of Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
“Right now, all non-sensitive materials are almost ready. In fact, today as we speak here, the non-sensitive materials have been lifted to some zones now,” Gumus said.
She said the commission had completed nine of its scheduled activities and was preparing for the next phase.
“We are preparing for the election next year and we have activities lined up. So far, we have been able to complete nine activities and we are still preparing for the next level of activities,” she said.
Gumus said the commission’s leadership had just concluded a tour of the country’s six zones to assess their level of preparedness.
“The purpose was to go round the zones to see how prepared we are, assess what the zones have put in place, their challenges and what to do. We concluded last week and we can see from our tour that we are really going towards the election proper,” she said.
On Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), the acting chairman said production had been completed and distribution to the states was well advanced.
“As of today, we can say that PVCs have been produced and the first, second batches, most of the states have received them. Their PVC collection is ongoing. All those who are supposed to be the voters are supposed to receive their PVCs, and if they don’t have them, it is also another challenge,” Gumus said.
She added that capacity building was under way for staff at the headquarters and in the states, and that the procurement and deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS devices were also ongoing.
On diaspora voting, Gumus said the commission could not proceed for now because the law did not provide for it.
“Here, because we go by the law, in our electoral law, it is not included there, so we cannot go on for the diaspora voting for now until we amend the electoral law,” she said.
The acting chairman said the commission had arranged for its directors to hold an interactive session with the Kenyan team and present papers on the work of their departments.
Leading the delegation, the Kenyan High Commissioner to Nigeria, Isaac Parashina, said the IEBC team was in Nigeria to benchmark ahead of Kenya’s general election in August 2027.
He said the team was studying how Nigeria handled its diaspora population and special voting groups, as Kenya sought to widen voting rights for citizens living abroad.
“Currently we have about 12 of them who voted in the last general election, but there is intention to expand to around, I think, 26,” Parashina said, referring to the countries where Kenyans abroad vote.
He said the expansion was a constitutional requirement backed by Kenyan court rulings, and would be enforced progressively.
Parashina said Nigeria’s election, which he noted would come in two rounds, would be closely watched across Africa.
“Everyone is looking at what Nigeria will do because it is the biggest democracy in Africa. The success of Nigeria remains a great success to Kenya and indeed to the continent,” he added.
The High Commissioner thanked INEC for receiving the team despite a tight schedule and wished the commission success.
Governor Douye Diri has set a target of at least one million votes for President Bola Tinubu in Bayelsa State in the 2027 presidential election, while charging the newly inaugurated All Progressives Congress (APC) State Campaign Council to prioritise reconciliation, party unity and collective electoral mobilisation.
Governor Diri gave the charge at the inauguration of the 20-member campaign council at the APC secretariat in Yenagoa, where he warned that internal divisions could undermine the party’s efforts to secure victory for President Tinubu and other candidates at the federal and state levels.
Governor Diri urged party members who were not appointed to the council to support its activities by taking the APC’s message to communities, wards and polling units across the state.
He specifically charged the campaign team to mobilise at least one million votes for President Tinubu, arguing that Bayelsa’s voting strength had increased and should be reflected in the 2027 election results.
“I give you a target that in Bayelsa, we must not bring less than one million votes for Mr President. You are going to campaign, and you have a lot to talk about the President. He has done so much for our people,” the governor said.
He listed the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the second phase of the Nembe-Brass Road, interventions in the power sector, federal appointments for Bayelsa indigenes and the establishment of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy among the achievements the campaign should present to voters.
The governor particularly praised President Tinubu for the coastal highway project, arguing that it reflected federal attention to the development needs of coastal communities.
“No president, alive or dead, has remembered the coastal people and coastal states to say let us do this signature project from Lagos to Calabar. The first president to think about it is Bola Tinubu, and those were the demands of the Ijaw people,” he said.
Governor Diri also expressed hope that a second term for President Tinubu would provide an opportunity to advance demands for fiscal federalism, greater resource control and state policing, which he described as longstanding aspirations of the Niger Delta.
He said the President had shown indications of addressing some of the demands of younger Nigerians and argued that re-election would allow the administration to consolidate its reforms.
The governor further cautioned campaigners against personal attacks and abusive exchanges with political opponents, insisting that the APC should focus its campaign on issues, policies and achievements.
The governor’s mobilisation directive comes amid criticism from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has questioned his commitment to President Tinubu’s re-election campaign, alleging that APC campaign billboards erected across Yenagoa promote other party candidates without featuring the President.
The PDP, through its Publicity Secretary, Mr Ikaebimo Mark, said the billboards showed Governor Diri urging voters to support APC candidates for the National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections without identifying President Tinubu as the party’s presidential candidate.
Mr Mark described the omission as an indication that the governor was not fully aligned with the APC’s national leadership.
“When we said that the governor, Senator Douye Diri, is not supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we knew exactly what we were saying. Now Governor Douye Diri has erected APC campaign billboards across Bayelsa State without Tinubu’s picture. He is even afraid to associate himself with the photograph of the presidential candidate of his own party. How can this governor claim to be supporting President Tinubu?” he said.
The PDP, however, maintained that the governor’s public campaign posture raised questions about his commitment to the President’s re-election bid. Its allegation over the billboards now places the issue of the relationship between the state APC leadership and the party’s national campaign among the political questions likely to feature in Bayelsa’s preparations for 2027.
The PDP’s allegation has introduced a fresh political dimension to the APC’s preparations in Bayelsa, even as Governor Diri publicly called on party leaders and members to close ranks and mobilise support for all its candidates.
“Every person picked as a member of this campaign council was carefully scrutinised. I want to tell you that our campaign team is loaded. We parade the best candidates among all the parties in Bayelsa State, and there is no doubt about that,” he said.
He urged members to remain focused and united, warning that political opponents could exploit any divisions within the party.
“Our unity is very important because they would want to feast on our disunity. We will not give them that opportunity. Please, as you carry out this assignment, do not take your eyes off the target,” Hon. Ogoriba said.
SP Edafe explained that during the meeting, the organisers were briefed on the identified security threats and advised against embarking on an open-road procession.
Instead, the police reportedly recommended that the political activities be conducted at a designated venue where adequate security arrangements could be provided.
However, the Command alleged that the organisers disregarded the security advice and proceeded with the road procession.
Meanwhile, the Delta State Government has condemned the political violence that erupted in Asaba, the state capital, on Saturday, confirming that one person was killed while four others sustained serious injuries.
The government described the incident as unfortunate and unacceptable, warning political parties and their supporters against actions capable of threatening public peace, security and democratic participation in the state.
In a statement issued by the Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, the government reiterated its zero tolerance for political violence, intimidation and other forms of political misconduct.
Mr Aniagwu said the government had repeatedly cautioned political parties against engaging in activities capable of disrupting the peace, insisting that the incident could have been avoided if the organisers had followed security advice.
According to him, the police had advised the organisers to cancel the proposed street march and instead conduct their political campaign at a designated venue where adequate security arrangements could be provided.
He expressed concern that the advice was allegedly disregarded, resulting in a confrontation that claimed one life and left four other people seriously injured.
The government subsequently called on the police to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the violence and ensure that anyone found culpable is brought to justice.
Mr Aniagwu further warned that the state government would not tolerate politically motivated attacks against any individual, regardless of political affiliation.
He maintained that Delta State remained safe for residents and visitors, stressing that the government would not allow the actions of individuals or groups to undermine the prevailing peace and security in the state.
The government also urged political parties, their leaders and supporters to conduct their political activities within the confines of the law and demonstrate respect for human life, public order and the rights of other citizens.
The latest development follows an attack on supporters of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) during a political procession in Asaba, which reportedly left several participants injured and campaign vehicles vandalised.
The government’s condemnation comes amid growing concerns over political violence and the safety of opposition supporters as political activities intensify ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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