With voting concluded by both houses of the National Assembly, on the 68 constitution alteration Bills, anxiety has been in air over possible outcomes from the State Houses of Assembly. JOSHUA EGBODO reviews past attempts, and the hurdles before the ongoing process.
Tightening lose ends
With voting concluded on the promised alterations, all eyes were on the National Assembly, which is expected to transmit the ones which sailed through during the voting process in both chambers.
First hurdle
However, what many described as the first obstacle to the ongoing process was when pro-women CSOs stormed the apex legislative house in Nigeria, to register their displeasure with the outcome of voting on some affirmative action-support proposals. For days running, the main entrance to the National Assembly was barricaded due to the sustained protest, leaving mainly workers and visitors stranded, or to seek some tortuous alternative routes into the complex. Understandably, the move was targeted at forcing the parliament to revisit the failed Bills.
Reps’ attempts at dousing tension
Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila has been commended for making moves to seeing that the pro-inclusiveness proposals do not totally fail, as he on the voting day, offered an intervention that saw one, seeking 20 percent of leadership of any political party reserved for women.
The House under his guide again, followed up with rescission of its earlier voting on the other Bills, ushering same for reconsideration at the Committee of the Whole, though no mention has been made on which date that will happen.
Scaling the next hurdle
As it is today, it was not clear whether the controversial affirmation action Bills will make it as part of what may in no distant time, be transmitted to the state Houses of Assembly for endorsement as required by the Constitution itself, what to many may be certain is that the state parliamentary houses will receive the document.
A lot of analysts are seemingly pessimistic on possible success of some of the proposals from the State Houses of Assembly, which not less than 24 of them were expected to vote “yes” for each of the proposals to scale through. This pessimism was hinged on past experiences when attempts were made to further alter the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
Worrisome also were the plethora of diverse opinion that the current constitution should be swapped for one of the earlier, or hybrids of two with the needed adjustments to meet the nation’s current realities. From the independence of the country in 1960, the Constitution, usually held to be the grundnorm of nationhood have come in different formats, which included the one applied during the colonial era, (1914-1960), Independence Constitution (1960), Republican Constitution (1963), Second Republic Constitution (1979- 1983), the Third Republic Constitution (1992-1993), though aborted by military intervention, and the Fourth Republic Constitution (1999 to date, as amended).
How different this time?
It is a known fact that there have been repeated attempts at altering the extant constitution, since the return of democratic governance in Nigeria, but the concern of followers of the developments had been the continuous re-introduction of clauses which for one reason or another failed in the preceding exercises. Ready examples often cited were the proposal for administrative and financial autonomy for local governments, and financial autonomy for state legislatures amongst others.
The first attempt was during the 5th National Assembly, when Ibrahim Mantu was Deputy Senate President, and Austin Okpara was Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, and both headed the Ad hoc review panels of the respective chambers. The noble effort, to in the words of many was sacrificed on the alter of the alleged third term agenda of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. At a point, some lawmakers were not willing to hear anything about the alteration plan again, because of “that thing”, (the clandestine tenure elongation clause).
The 6th National Assembly took another shot at it, under the chairmanship of Senator Ike Ekweremadu and Hon. Usman Bayero Nafada, and this time with a partial success story, which offered the National Assembly a position in the statutory transfer slots of the federation account.
Next was by the 7th Assembly, which in its attempt to strip a sitting president of his or her veto power on constitution amendment Bills, pitched the parliament against former President Goodluck Jonathan. The President in declining assent, argued that the legislature overreached itself in seeking to abridge presidential powers, thus negating the principles of checks and balances.
The 8th National Assembly, which came with a shift from lumping all proposed alterations under one Bill, as a move not to making such efforts totally wasted just for disagreement over a few proposals, treated 33 during its own attempt, with 28 of them passed by the House of Representatives. Out of these, 17 got concurrence from the Senate. In the end, only 12 of the number got endorsement of the required 2/3 yes votes from the state legislatures. Only five of these were signed to be part of the constitution.
Questions have been on how differently the ongoing exercise will produce outcomes. Beside the reintroduction of the local government autonomy proposal and that of the state legislative houses, striking issues which may yet engage the state parliaments at crossroads were the call for abolition of the joint state and local government accounts, and the autonomy of state judiciaries.
To be a successful outing?
All proposals so far voted for in approval may be on the way to the 36 State Houses of Assembly soon, after which those that made it through would be transmitted to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent. It is yet doubtful if the Bills will return all endorsed by the state parliaments. This was so considered in view of past experiences. Though the House of Representatives has repeatedly reassured Nigerians on the wide consultations already carried out,
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), through its National President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, also assured that the organised labour would mobilize across the country to ensure State Houses of Assembly will, among others, vote in support of the autonomy of the local governments, state legislatures and the judiciary, as well as the other Bills.
As Nigerians wait anxiously to see the outcomes from the state parliaments, and the fate they get in the hands of the President, pundits worry over the process, becoming yet, another futile process.
