The House of Representatives has commenced the process of another round of constitution review, with resolve to revisit issues of state creation, local government autonomy, and to also focus on electoral and police reforms as well as national security.
Inaugurating the special committee on the review of the constitution on Thursday, speaker House, Femi Gbajabiamila stated that the constitution of any country must adapt and respond to new realities and challenges confronting it, adding that it’s imperative for stakeholders to identify those areas where the nation’s laws have not lived up to expectation.
Gbajabiamila declared that the House was commencing the constitution review process at a time of great and ongoing upheaval in Nigeria that has thrown up new challenges and requires the government using the constitution review process to proffer workable solutions that reflect current aspirations.
“When you ask me what the state of our nation is, the honest answer is this; we are in a fight for the very survival of our country and the continuation of the Nigerian project. Recent global developments have exposed all our systemic weaknesses so that we can no longer pretend to ourselves that things are on an even keel and slow progress is enough to get us to where we ought to be yet are still so far away from.
“This 9th House of Representatives has since committed to the cause of reform. Our commitment must neither waver nor wane on the matter of thoughtful and fair overhaul of our nation’s constitution. The reality of our current circumstances, and the now certain knowledge that only us can save ourselves imposes on us an obligation to act with greater determination and all the urgency this moment calls for,” he said.
On police reforms, he said “Over the last week, thousands of our nation’s young people have been on the streets day and night protesting the inhumane and brutal abuses of human rights by the police, particularly the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
“In addition to whatever other changes that may be caused by these protests, they have exposed the stinking underbelly of our nation’s policing system so that we now understand better why our federal police is often unable to effectively respond to the localised manifestations of insecurity across the different parts of our country.
Earlier, Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the special committee, Idris Wase, emphasized the importance of reviewing the extant constitution as a majority of Nigerians consider the 1999 constitution a product of military exigency that doesn’t reflect the wishes and aspirations of the people.
He said that there has been several attempts to amend the 1999 Constitution based on agitations from various sections of the country over perceived grey areas that doesn’t meet their expectations.
He mentioned areas of focus for the special committee to include true Federalism, Local Government Autonomy, State Policing State Creation and Judicial Autonomy among others.
