Constitution: Reps committee receives proposals for amendment in 161 areas – Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, says the House Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution has received proposals for amendments in approximately 161 areas.

Mr Kalu stated this in an interview with journalists shortly after his presentation at the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) meeting in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Kalu, who is also the Chairman of the House Committee on the Review of the Constitution, was accompanied to the meeting by the principal officers of the lower chamber.

Describing the meeting as ‘productive’, Mr Kalu noted that without engaging the governors, the wheel of progress in achieving the ongoing constitutional amendment would be slow.

“We consider it important to come and engage the governors to bring them up to speed, taking them through our work plan, what we have achieved so far and where we are heading to.

“We have had a robust discussion, and I must say, the governors made beautiful contributions and they are in support of the constitutional review.

“We informed them that we are going to be visiting their states and the geo-political zones to advance the opinions of the public in their various zones with regards to the thematic areas of the constitution that we are looking at.

“We informed them that we have received about 161 areas to amend in the constitution and we are going to give them the breakdown of all of them in the coming engagement,’’ he said.

The deputy speaker said that the committee would continue its engagement with the governors, especially for their input on the amendment of the constitution.

He said that the committee also requested the governors to nominate an anchor person, like a state liaison officer, between the state and the committee to fast-track their inputs and the committee’s feedback.

“This will make things easier when we get to the states; it won’t be difficult having the state Houses of Assembly to perform the constitutional role which is two-third voting,’’ he said.

Asked what the forum’s view was on tax reform, Mr Kalu said that the governors “did not dwell on tax reform but spoke generally on the constitution and local government reforms.

“We only informed them that it is before the parliament and that the parliament will look at it critically and align itself with the wishes and desires of the people we represent,’’ he said.

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On the creation of state police, the deputy speaker said that as nationalists and leaders, the governors were also open-minded and professional.

“The governors did not dwell on state police as well. They are interested in what will make the nation move forward.

“They were not exact on any particular thematic area because we laid before them various thematic areas that we are considering now,’’ Mr Kalu said.

In his company were the Majority Leader, Julius Ihonvbere; Deputy Majority Leader, Abdullahi Halims and Sada Soli, representing Jibia/Kaita Federal Constituency in Katsina, among others.

(NAN)