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Constitution review: Reps receive 305 memoranda, 112 bills
A total of 305 memoranda and 112 bills were submitted to the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review, Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu disclosed in a statement on Friday.
This is just as the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, assured all of the readiness of the 10th National Assembly to produce a constitution capable of meeting the collective needs of Nigerians.
Akpabio gave the assurance on Friday, in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State while delivering his remarks at the beginning of a two-day retreat of the House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution.
Akpabio charged federal lawmakers of both chambers to be diligent in the ongoing review of the constitution, stressing that every bill and proposal must receive the needed consideration.
A statement issued on Friday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Speaker, Levinus Nwabughiogu, quoted the 36 Speakers of State Houses of Assembly and the government of Akwa Ibom State as pledging their support for the establishment of state police, resource control, and decentralisation of power, among others.
The statement also quoted Akpabio as saying that the new constitution that will emerge will create a framework for a prosperous Nigeria.
“I believe that at the end of the day, the Senate and the House of Representatives will create a blueprint that guides us towards a more united and prosperous Nigeria. This journey has just begun in this retreat.
“The challenges before us are significant, but so are the opportunities. This opportunity is to ensure that all the bills we consider and comprehend are fair and reflective of the aspiration of the Nigerian people.
“We must take into account the diverse perspectives and experiences that make up our great nation. By doing so, we lay a solid foundation for a constitution that truly represents the hope and dreams of every single Nigerian alive,” Akpabio said.
The Senate President also urged Nigerians to take advantage of the constitution amendment exercise to bring about a renewed focus for the country.
“Let us rise up to this duty and answer our country’s call, particularly at a time when we have a Vice President and President and even the wife of the President as former legislators. This is the right time for us to shape the future of our country through legislation,”Akpabio added.
In his address, Kalu who doubled as the Chairman, House Committee on Constitution Review highlighted areas of top priority for the exercise.
He listed local government autonomy, judiciary, electoral matters, state police, gender, human right issues among others as areas Nigerians are demanding amendment or alteration to the constitution.
Recall that the committee has held a series of public engagements from its pre-inaugural meeting to the unveiling of sub-committees on work plan development, the inauguration of the committee, the call for memoranda, appointment and inauguration of consultants, retreat of the secretariat and consultants of the House; a joint committee secretariat and consultants of both the Senate and the House and setting a timeline to achieve the first set of amendment by December 2025.
Throwing more light on the issue,Kalu stated that the thematic areas have been shared to various experts in line with their disciplines and competence.
According to him, local government matters will be handled by Prof Nuhu Jamo, the judiciary assigned to Barr Mike Osuman (SAN); electoral matters to Samson Osagie; state police to Usman Ibrahim; gender issues were given to Prof Anthonia Simbine; human rights issues to Chris Uche (SAN) and special matters to Prof Yusuf M Yusuf.
“Our consultations will extend to the judiciary, election stakeholders, women groups, traditional rulers, and civil society organizations, among others, and presently, we have received 305 proposals from Nigerians, and 112 bills sponsored by members are at various stages of consideration in the House. These memos have been analysed by the committee consultants, and a report will be presented to the members during the course of these deliberations.
“We will also engage the citizens from across Nigeria’s six geo-political zones and will cap our consultations with a national public hearing in Abuja before the end of 2024.
“The committee will now be presented with the outcome of the review of the bills and memos received.
“Furthermore, the constitutional amendments are instrumental in achieving better economic outcomes by modernising legal frameworks, enhancing institutional capacity, better enhancing Nigeria economic potentials, addressing emerging economic challenges and facilitating inclusive development.
“Constitutional amendments have become imperative for a couple of reasons including the need to adapt to changing economic realities; strengthen property rights and the rule of law; promote economic freedom and fear competition; foster fiscal responsibilities and budgetary discipline to enhance governance and accountability as well as empower subnational governments and to facilitate structural reforms,” he said.
In his remarks at the retreat, the Governor of Akwa Ibom state, Pastor Umo Eno, represented by the Deputy Governor, Akon Eyakenyi gave his support for the establishment of state police, asking the committee to also consider devolution of powers.
“The issue of devolution of powers from the centre to sub-nationals to make Nigeria a proper federation has been a recurring decimal since the promulgation of decree 34 of 1966 by the military, which sets the nation on the path of unitary federalism.
“The result was an overburdened center and over-dependent federating units, thus making it impossible for sub-nationals to look inwards for development in a manner peculiar to their natural endowment and circumstances.
“Thankfully, recent efforts at constitutional amendments have removed some of these bottlenecks. However, a lot remains to be done, especially in the areas of security and revenue allocation,” he added.
Speaking on the imperative of state police, Kalu, who represents Bende Federal Constituency, Abia State, said, “At this point in our history, vis-a-vis the seemingly intractable security problems across the nation, I doubt if we can still debate the necessity or otherwise of state police.
“Experience has shown that a centralized security architecture cannot effectively tackle localized crimes. The creation of state police does not mean the abolition of federal police.
Also speaking, the chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria and Oyo State House of Assembly Speaker, Adebo Ogundoyin said that the conference is more interested in state police, local government autonomy, resource control and revenue allocation, devolution of powers to the states amongst others.
He said: “There are fundamental national issues that must be reviewed and considered for constitutional amendments, issues such as state police, local government autonomy, resource control and revenue allocation, centralization of powers in the center or devolution of powers to state amongst other pressing matters.
…hails emergence of Bawa as state chairman
The Senator representing Taraba Central Senatorial District Senator Manu Haruna on Sunday donated five operational vehicles to Taraba Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to enhance its operations.
Manu also seized the opportunity to congratulate the state Chairman, Hon Abubakar Bawa when he visited the secretariat in Jalingo last Sunday.
The former State Deputy Governor expressed his congratulations to Chairman Bawa and the state working committee for their election, emphasizing the importance of unity and progress within the party. He commended their commitment to strengthening the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Taraba State.
In a generous move to enhance the operational capacity of the party at the grassroots level, Senator Manu donated five vehicles — one for each Local Government Area (LGA) party chapter in Taraba Central.
This donation is intended to facilitate better coordination and outreach efforts within the party.
Senator Manu praised Hon. Abubakar Bawa for his dedicated efforts to elevate the PDP in the state, asserting that Taraba will always remain a stronghold for the party.
In response, State Party Chairman Alhaji Bawa expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Senator Manu for his thoughtful visit and generous donation. He acknowledged the impact of such contributions on the party’s progress and reemphasized the commitment of the PDP to serve the interests of the people in Taraba State.
By Francesca Hangeior
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, AGF, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, has canvassed for greater efforts and commitments to the Federal Government’s aspirations to produce a workable legal framework for the country.
He charged the Committee put in place by the federal government to review, revise and consolidate the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, LFN, to double the efforts and commitments to deliver on the mandate at the appointed time.
Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, spoke on Monday in Abuja at the second retreat of the Committee put in place in October last year for the laws of the federation revision and reform.
The AGF while challenging the committee to be up and doing asked the members to remain united in purpose and steadfast in the resolve to produce a legal framework that is worthy of the nation’s aspirations.
He said the second retreat organized by the federal government was a strategic consolidation of the national law reform efforts and to provide an invaluable opportunity to come up with a better workable legal framework for the nation.
“Let me start by expressing gratitude to the Chairman, Co-Chairperson and members of the Committee for their selfless service and sacrifice, to ensure that this project is executed efficiently and effectively.
“The call to be part of this assignment is indeed a sacred that inevitably and positively affects the lives of individuals, government, businesses as well as citizens of this nation.
“The general purpose of law is to regulate human behavior by protecting lives and properties in society. The inauguration of the Committee on the 24th October, 2024 marked a historic milestone in our collective efforts to modernize, consolidate, and harmonize Nigeria’s body of federal statutes.
“The retreat successfully provides a clear framework for the structure and methodology of the revision exercise, oriented the 14 Working Groups tasked with reviewing specific legal subject areas, and fostered collaboration among key institutions and stakeholders on the project.
“Following the initial retreat, I wish to note that the Committee has recorded steady progress in its work.
“The Ministry has taken several measures to ensure that the assignment is delivered efficiently, including:training sessions for secretaries of the working groups to enhance documentation and coordination; technical meetings of the main committee and its various sub-committees; working sessions and deliberations among editors and reviewers; and ongoing technical collation of revised laws by the Secretariat.
“This second retreat is a strategic consolidation of our national law reform efforts and provides an invaluable opportunity to: review progress made since the first phase;
address any technical or structural challenges encountered during the collation process;
– Harmonize the output across working groups; and set the tone for the final stages of this important project.
“The next stage of the law review and consolidation process would include editing and proofreading the reviewed legislation, ahead of the final collation, production and printing of the laws of the federation.
“It is my conviction that these phases will be executed with even greater commitment by the Committee, with the support of stakeholders and development partners.
“I wish to commend the leadership of the LFN Committee, the Secretariat for its diligent coordination and day-to-day management as well as the Working Groups, Editors, and Reviewers, for their intellectual rigour and professionalism.
“Special gratitude to our development partners, particularly RoLAC, for standing firmly behind this national project.
“Let me urge all participants to use this retreat as a platform for robust engagement, peer learning, and practical collaboration.
“We must remain united in purpose and steadfast in our resolve to produce a legal framework that is worthy of our nation’s aspirations.
” I wish to express gratitude for your commitment to duty and I charge you to work in synergy and cooperation, in the overall interest of the nation”, the AGF said.
The Rivers State Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), has replied to the Nigerian Bar Association regarding the reason for relocating its Annual General Conference from Port Harcourt to Enugu State.
Ibas faulted the reason cited by the NBA, describing it as misleading and uncharitable.
The Sole Administrator stated this in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Monday by his media aide, Hector Igbikiowubo, and sent to newsmen.
He said while the NBA reserves the right to choose a venue for its conference, the association had yet to address the issue of the refund of the hosting rights paid by the state government for the conference.
The statement partly reads, “While we respect the NBA’s right to choose its conference venues, we find it curious that the association—despite its “principled position”— didn’t address the refund of the N300 million already paid by the Rivers State Government for the hosting rights of the 2025 conference.
“If the NBA truly stands on principle, it should demonstrate the same integrity by promptly returning these funds rather than benefiting from a state it now publicly discredits.”
It added, “The attention of the Rivers State Government has been drawn to the Nigeria Bar Association’s announcement dated 10th April 2025, relocating its 2025 Annual General Conference from Port Harcourt to Enugu.
The statement partly reads, “While we respect the NBA’s right to choose its conference venues, we find it curious that the association—despite its “principled position”— didn’t address the refund of the N300 million already paid by the Rivers State Government for the hosting rights of the 2025 conference.
“If the NBA truly stands on principle, it should demonstrate the same integrity by promptly returning these funds rather than benefiting from a state it now publicly discredits.”
It added, “The attention of the Rivers State Government has been drawn to the Nigeria Bar Association’s announcement dated 10th April 2025, relocating its 2025 Annual General Conference from Port Harcourt to Enugu.
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