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From Fred Itua, Abuja
The National Assembly has accused state governors and speakers of about 25 Houses of Assembly of plot to frustrate ongoing Constitution amendment exercise.
Ovie Omo-Agege, deputy Senate president and chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, at a press conference attended by the senate Chief Whip, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, and other principal officers of the Red Chamber in Abuja, yesterday, said governors and speakers were demanding the creation of state police, among others, before they would vote on the 44 bills sent to them for assent.
In March, the Senate and the House of Representatives voted on bills seeking to amend the 1999 constitution. Both chambers agreed on some of the bills and differed on others, while a total of 44 bills were transmitted to the state houses of assembly.
According to sections 9(2) and (3) of the 1999 constitution, two-thirds of all the state assemblies -24 states – are required for each amendment to be approved.
Omo-Agege said: “Now, let us give you a sense of where we are with the Bills as of today. Six months after the transmission of these Bills to state Assemblies, it is most disheartening to inform you that only 11 State Houses of Assembly have demonstrated their independence and loyalty to the Constitution regarding the 44 bills.“Twenty five state Houses of Assembly have yet to consider and vote on these bills. So far, only Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Delta, Edo, Kaduna, Katsina, Kogi, Lagos, Ogun and Osun states have successfully considered, voted on, and forwarded their resolutions on the 44 bills to the National Assembly.
“More worrisome is that while we are still expecting the receipt of the resolutions of the remaining house of assembly, we received a letter from the conference of speakers of state assemblies informing the national assembly that the remaining states will not act on the 44 bills unless the assembly passes four new bill they have proposed in the letter.
“The bills they propose seek to amend the constitution to: establish state police, establish state judicial council, streamline the procedure for removing presiding officers of state houses of assembly, and institutionalise legislative bureaucracy in the constitutio.
“We want to ensure everyone understands this: the national assembly is in no way averse to acting on any proposed Bill or memoranda appropriately tabled before it, at any time in its life.
“However, it is legally inappropriate for the conference of speakers to use the four bills as a quid pro quo to act on the 44 bills the national assembly 44 bills transmitted. It is clear, and we cannot overstate, that this letter is not in keeping with the obligation the constitution has placed on them regarding the constitutional amendment.”
Omo-Agege alleged they were being held hostage by governors and state Assembly speakers.
“It is the right of the House of Assembly to vote but they are refusing to vote. The process is not dead because we still have many months for them to vote. The autonomy of local government is so crucial. They must take a stand on this so that. Responsibility never given to governors on constitution review. We have reached out to governors on informal basis. But governors failed to lobby their legislators in the National Assembly to support their positions.
On state police, Omo-Agege noted: “If you want state police, come up and defend it. They should disabuse the minds of people against it. The same governors seeking state police have not paid salaries, how are they going to pay the new workers recruited as state policemen? Members of the National Assembly cannot even go home now because of insecurity. So, the fear is there that governors are going to use the state police against their opponents.”
National President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, said they would mobilise against state Assemblies and governors opposed to autonomy for local governments.
“NLC has a clear position on state police that we are not mature for that. If a state government can sponsor thuggery, if it has state police, it would be worse. I commend the National Assembly for standing firm so far. On local government autonomy, we stand. We need strong institutions, not strong persons. We are ready to start the process of ensuring that independence is guaranteed for local governments, judiciary and legislature.”
