Constitution Amendment: Delays, Intrigues, Distrust As Nigerians Await New Law

The federal republic of Nigeria’s constitution is now being amended in the National Assembly; nonetheless, there are citizens from various fields of endeavor who do not believe the document will ever see the light of day.

Some argue that it has been customary for the National Assembly to establish possibilities in the shape of committees in both the upper and lower chambers to fulfill pledges made to legislators who voted for the Senate President or the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

DAILY POST examines the past, present, and likely outcome of the current amendment exercise, which is chaired by Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, who also represents Delta Central Senatorial District.

The last time the Nigerian Constitution was revised was in January 2011, under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, and since then, the inadequacy and insanity of the amended constitution has prompted constant calls for more amendments.

As a result of this development, an amendment committee was formed, chaired by Senator David Mark, who served as President of the Senate from 2007 to 2015.

Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the Deputy Senate President, was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Constitution Amendment at the time.

At the upper and lower legislative chambers, an ad hoc committee was sponsored alongside a regular committee. Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who represents Enugu West Senatorial District on the Peoples Democratic Party platform, chaired the Committee for twelve years in the pursuit of a functional constitutional draft.

For the past twelve years that Ekweremadu has presided over the Committee, all attempts to change the Constitution have failed despite significant funding of almost N3 billion.

The fund, which was intended for both House of Representatives and Senate Committees as they coexisted, failed to provide any outcomes.

Despite Ekweremadu’s legal competence and experience as a fifth-time member of the red Chamber, the Constitution amendment failed.

Some citizens, on the other hand, believe that the never-ending unsuccessful constitutional amendment process is merely meant to serve as a conduit for legislators and not to serve Nigerians’ true interests.

The House of Representatives Spokesperson, Benjamin Kalu, expressed confidence that the 9th National Assembly would change the narrative, saying that the pending constitution amendment would be voted into law and signed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

In just two years, he claimed, MPs in the 9th Assembly accomplished more legislative obligations in terms of bills passed, motions sponsored, and resolutions passed than in any prior session.

The legislator, who spoke on a live radio show in Abuja with a DAILY POST correspondent last week, credited the 9th National Assembly for having a good working relationship with the executive branch of government.

President Buhari, he added, will assent to the new constitution as soon as it is passed. He went on to say that if MPs could break the jinx by passing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which is now an Act, he was confident that the Constitution would be passed as well.

He said: “Nigerians who still express doubt that the Constitution amendment will not be passed are reminded of the PIB which was passed into law after 21 years.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila on his part, didn’t only assure that the amended constitution would be passed into law in record time but said the document would make sure that institutions of the state are accountable for their action to put an end to the debilitating conflicts across the country.

Gbajabiamila who was giving a keynote address at 112th Founder’s Lecture of the King’s College Old Boys Association, Lagos, on Saturday last week submitted that Nigeria’s amalgamation in 1914 was a phenomenon that should mobilise Nigerians into a strong and united territory, but regretted that the reverse has been the case. He said the ongoing Constitution amendment provided ample opportunity for a working document to be produced to enable citizens take ownership of their own country.

He maintained: “In the House of Representatives, we are currently in the process of substantive review of our nation’s Constitution. Our objective is to deliver a Constitution that more effectively organizes our politics to make it more inclusive, enshrine efficient mechanisms for holding institutions of State to account and put an end to debilitating conflicts that continue to tear our nation apart.

Speaking further, he said: “We will not produce a perfect Constitution. No such thing has ever existed in the world. However, together we can, by the choices we make and our actions, use our Constitution as the foundational document of our nationhood to give life to the best promise of Nigeria.”

In his view, Senator Francis Fadahunsi representing Osun East Senatorial District on Thursday likened Nigeria’s Constitution to a ‘rag’, which requires patches all the time. He regretted that Nigeria has never been serious in its search for a Constitution that tended to take care of Nigerians, saying, there was the late Justice Niki Tobi Committee report which comprehensively addressed the yearnings of Nigerians, but was jettisoned due to unexplained reasons.

The lawmaker said Nigeria’s parliament has a history of constitution amendments, yet nothing workable has ever come out, saying: “If they had allowed Justice Niki Tobi Committee report to be implemented and allowed the legislature to work on it, maybe it would have solved problems. Today, the Constitution is unworkable.

“Aside from the 9th Senate that is battling with the Constitution amendment, all other sessions, from first to the 8th have been running up and down trying to amend the Constitution, yet it didn’t work.

“Constitution is like a rag, and if we are lucky in the 9th Assembly we will be to amend some parts of the Constitution, if not we have to sit down in future to talk about Constitution amendment.”

“We have a lot of experienced lawmakers and we should allow a Constitution to come from the 9th Assembly because we are the representative of the people.”

Meanwhile, a legal practitioner who didn’t want his name in print expressed pessimism about constitutional amendment under the current leadership of the National Assembly.

He said the amendment of the constitution was more than a serious exercise that should not be left in hands of unserious lawmakers.

The lawyer, while disclosing that he participated in the Constitutional Review national public hearing which was held on June 3 and 4 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja pointed out that “States creation” interests have made the exercise difficult, controversial and a recipe for crisis.

He said the Dr. Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan leadership does not have the capacity and resolute to do what wouldn’t be in the interest of the executive, hence, memoranda on State creation were not in the interest of the executive and were dead on arrival.

However, the Constitution Review Committee as it were, may have a time challenge to carry out the exercise given that it has less than a two-year life span. It is even more difficult that out of the period left, 2023 political activities may go full-blown from mid-2022 and time will tell, if Senators and Representatives of the 9th National Assembly will amend the 1999 Constitution before May 29.