POLITICS
Constitution Needs Constant Review – Omo-Agege
The Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege, says Nigerian constitution needed to be constantly reviewed for the benefit of the citizens.
Omo-Agege, Chairman, Senate Committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution, said this at the opening of a two-day public hearing on the review of the Constitution in Bauchi.
He said that the Nigeria C0onstitution had to be looked into from time to time “just like we take stock of the past and plan for the future.
“As a living document, the Constitution to a large extent in a constitutional democracy, need to be reviewed from time to time just as in our day-to-day lives we take stock of the past and plan for the future.
’’Represented by Sen. Abubakar Kyari, Chairman, Public Hearing Committee on 1999 Constitution Review, Bauchi Centre, Omo-Agege said the review would provide a platform for Nigerians to their express opinions on fundamental laws governing their lives.
He said that the focus of the committee was to manage the exercise in a fair, inclusive, credible and transparent manner.
He said that the hearing was organised ahead of the national public hearing because the National Assembly adopted a bottom-up approach by listening to Nigerians first at the geo-political levels.
Omo-Agege said the approach underscored the critical importance the Constitution review committee placed on the sub-national levels of governance in the country.
The chairman, however, appealed to the participants, irrespective of their political affiliations to support the National Assembly to towards positive transformation in the country.
“I, therefore, invite you all to participate actively in this public hearing so that together, we can bequeath to our nation a peoples centred Constitution,’’ he said.
Gov. Bala Mohammed said that the numerous military intervention in the nation’s politics led to a democracy with military dictatorship.
The governor also said that the military introduced a system where powers were concentrated at the centre with the regions becoming appendages of the centre.
He said it was not surprising that the 1999 Constitution did not holistically encapsulate the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians as an autocratic command structure was adopted.
The governor, however, said that it was gratifying that the National Assembly set machinery in motion for the amendment of the 1999 Constitution.
Mohammed gave a pass mark to the current three tiers of government – federal, state and local in the country and called for their retention in the reviewed constitution.
“It is therefore my contention that more powers be devolved to states and local governments because the two tiers are closer to the people.
“To this end, I wish to further suggest that some of the items in the exclusive legislative lists should be transferred to the concurrent legislative lists.
“With devolution of power to the states, I wish to also recommend the review of the revenue allocation formula so that states will have more resources to discharge the additional responsibilities devolved to them,’’ Mohammed said.
He called for the establishment of state police, adding that it would be more ideal for the states to have their law enforcement agencies rather than depend on federal enforcement agencies.
“You will agree with me that this arrangement does not augur well for an effective security administration of the state, hence, the need for the state police that will be fully controlled by the states government,’’ he said.
Mohammed said that in order to address the fear that state police could be abused by state governors for political gains, appropriate legal instruments must be put in place by the reviewers of the Constitution.
“By this, there won’t be arbitrariness, subjectivity and political persecution,’’ he said,
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the public hearing was being held simultaneously in the six geo-political zones of the country.(NAN)
The Abia Chapter of the INEC Staff Welfare Association (ISWA) has warned its members to uphold the integrity of the commission and guard against the culture of manipulating election results.
The Abia Chairman of the association, Mr Collins Eze, gave the advice at the group’s general meeting and end-of-year party in Umuahia.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen on the sideline of the ceremony, Eze said that the staff members were adequately aware of their enormous responsibility and should ensure free, fair and credible elections.
He said: “We have also told our colleagues that anywhere they find themselves they should make sure that they do the needful by ensuring transparency in the conduct of elections.
“We have always told them not to allow anybody to induce them with money to manipulate election results.
“I’m happy that they have been building the capacity of our colleagues on election processes.
“So, in the coming years, we won’t have any problem in ensuring free, fair and peaceful elections.”
He said that the end-of-year party was special as it afforded them the opportunity “to wine and dine together as well as thank God for sustaining them in 2024”.
Eze said that his leadership had introduced various means of assisting members in dire financial needs by providing platforms to solicit suppory for them.
He expressed gratitude to members for their support and cooperation, describing them as the “secret behind the success of this administration”.
He said that 34 of at least 350 staff members of the commission in the state retired from service in 2024.
According to him, the development has placed a huge financial burden on the association, in terms of their welfare and entitlement as members.
Report says that each member received a carton of tomato paste as Christmas gift from the association. (NAN)
A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be thankful to God that its 16-year administration was not probed by the successive APC-led governments.Okechukwu stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, while reacting to a statement by PDP congratulating Ghanaians for the conduct of free, fair and transparent general elections.
Report says that PDP had, in a statement, said that the verdict of the people of Ghana in the presidential election was a signal to the APC that its days were numbered. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, had said in the statement that the power of the people in Nigeria, just like in Ghana, would ‘surely prevail and end the APC’s oppressive rule’.This, he said, would “return Nigeria to the path of good governance, security, political stability and economic prosperity on the platform of the PDP in 2027.”However, in his reactions to Ologunagba’s statement, Okechukwu said that the PDP clan should thank God that former President Muhammadu Buhari and President Bola Tinubu, out of sheer statesmanship, had refused to probe ‘the 16 locus years of PDP administrations’.Okechukwu, a former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), described the 16 years of PDP administrations as ones full of squandering and lack of plan.He said that Nigeria had yet to recover from the humongous culture of impunity and trust deficit planted by PDP on the Nigerian soil.Okechukwu said corruption was among the culture of impunity, saying it governed the privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity value chain, a key element in the country’s industrialisation drive.“Another is the blatant rigging of the 2007 general elections which the foremost beneficiary, President Umaru Yar’Adua, out of good conscience and noble magnanimity, publicly acknowledged the malfeasance which characterised his victory,” he said.Okechukwu also mentioned what he called conscienceless sale of the legislative and ministerial quarters, the annual rentage of which, he said, was bleeding the country’s treasury.“Another one is the neglect of $23 billion Greenfield Refinery, which could have saved over $70 billion expended on importation of refined petroleum products and which simulated the economic hardship of today,” he said.On why, for nine years, the APC administration could not fix those challenges, he recalled the efforts made by the Buhari administration to reopen talks on the Greenfield Refinery which, according to him, the Chinese regrettably rebuffed.The former VON director-general said that Nigerians were not in a hurry to forget the deliberate breach of the rotational convention of president from the north to the south.He said that the country could not also forget the utter disregard for Section 7 of the PDP’s constitution which expressly mandated zoning.Okechukwu advised the PDP not to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians by assuming that citizens would easily forget how they were put in the harms way.He said that PDP should thank God that Buhari and Tinubu did not want to probe them, adding “that’s why Nigerians cannot decipher the difference between the two political parties.” (NAN)
Sen. Ned Nwoko (PDP-Delta) says that Local Government Administration is central to democracy in Nigeria as it ensures grassroots governance and service delivery at the local level.This is contained in a statement signed by Dr Michael Nwoko, the Chief of Staff to the lawmaker in Abuja on Monday.Nwoko said this on the occasion of the presentation of an award “Icon of Hope” to him by the Association of Local Government Vice Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGOVC).
He was represented by his Chief of Staff. He said that the importance of local government administration in the country could not be overemphasised, as it was the bedrock of democracy.According to him, local governments in Nigeria play key roles in the country’s democracy by promoting participatory democracy, providing services, and representing citizens.“Local Governments help determine local needs and how to meet them. They also act as a link between the centre, state, and local people.“They are created to decentralise power and bring the government closer to the people. They perform both mandatory and concurrent functions.“It is in view of this that I took it upon myself to enhance the viability of local governments through the Paris and London club loan refunds,”he said.Dr Folashade Olabanji-Oba, ALGOVC National Chairman, while presenting the award at its 7th Annual National Conference, said the award was in recognition of the lawmaker’s significant contributions to strengthening local government administration.She highlighted Nwoko’s critical role in ensuring the Paris and London Club loan refunds, a financial breakthrough she said enhanced the capacity of local governments nationwide.(NAN)
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