Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, have appealed to governors not to kill the ongoing constitution amendment exercise
The exercise is being carried out by the National Assembly and the 36 States Houses of Assembly.
The appeal of leadership of the National Assembly to the governors on the constitution amendment, was made at the Parliamentarians Lecture 2022 organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS).
Lawan, who first made the appeal, urged Governor Nasir El – Rufai of Kaduna State, who was the chairman of the event, to help lobby other governors for adoption of the 44 bills forwarded to the Houses of Assembly in March.
“We will task you to lobby for us. We have sent (to the states) the outcome of our constitution review and we are yet to receive all from the states. So we should be able to wind up this process by getting responses from the state Houses of Assembly. Even if it is one month left, we have the capacity working together to ensure that we pass some of the legislations that are required in a very expeditious manner.
“Please lobby your governor colleagues for us because I can see that you do that very well,” he said.
Making a similar appeal in his presentation as guest speaker at the event, Gbajabiamila said: “The National Assembly passed a draft of amendments to the constitution and advanced them to the states as required. That process now seems to have stalled in the State Assemblies. As it is today, it is doubtful that the current constitution amendment effort will conclude before the expiration of this legislative term. However , the appeal made by the senate president to Governor Nasir El-Rufai for required cooperation of governors on the exercise, may bring the process back to life.”
On his part, Governor El-Rufai said the National Assembly and indeed the legislature is key and often decapitated branch of government.
He said that such lectures was important to build the institutional strength and capacity of the National Assembly.
“The role and the relationship between the three branches of government should be governed by collaboration, coordination and interdependence.”
This, he said, was because no one can function effectively in the public interest without the understanding and support of others.
The governor commended members of the National Assembly on the passage of “so many important bills” including the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).
He, however, tasked the federal legislators that as they round off their remarkable and commendable four years, they should put on more efforts at state and community policing.
“We are aware that the current policing system is old and doesn’t work for Nigeria. Nigeria is the only federation in the world with one centralised police system. This National Assembly has the capacity to enact state and community policing system that prevents the abuses of the past, and takes into account, the challenges of the present.”
Director-General NILDS, Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman said the event clearly attested to the robust nature of executive/legislative complimentarity that was brought to bear on democratic practices in Africa where Nigeria was taking the lead.
The governors had in September through Speakers of the State Houses of Assembly , communicated to the National Assembly that the constitution review exercise as contained in the 44 bills sent to them , will not be concurred to , without inclusion of State Policing and other three items.
Other three items the Conference of Speakers of State Houses of Assembly requested for are establishment of State Judicial Council; streamlining of the procedure for removing presiding officers of state Houses of Assembly; and institutionalising legislative bureaucracy in the constitution.
But the National Assembly at the time vowed to collaborate with the Nigeria Labour Congress and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to mobilise Nigerians against State Houses of Assembly in getting the 44 bills concurred to, particularly the ones on financial and administrative autonomy for Local Government Councils.
Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo – Agege in his capacity as Chairman of the Ad – hoc committee on Constitution review fired back then by saying “ 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.
