N/Assembly to amend 161 areas in 1999 constitution – Kalu

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, has disclosed that the National Assembly is considering amendments to 161 areas in the 1999 constitution in the ongoing review.

Briefing newsmen after a closed-door session with governors of the 36 states of the federation during their meeting which started on Wednesday night and ran into the early hours of Thursday in Abuja, Kalu said governors are critical stakeholders in the process, hence, the need for their inputs.

Daily Trust reports that the 10th National Assembly has embarked on another constitution amendment process which is billed to be completed in December 2025.

The federal lawmaking body is considering the issues of state police, electoral reform, local government autonomy, diaspora voting, autonomy of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), pre- and post-election concerns, and court rulings on electoral matters among others in the review.

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Kalu, who is chairing the committee on constitution review at the House of Representatives said the governors were in support of the initiative and ready to welcome the lawmakers when they start visiting various states for public hearing.

“We informed them that we have received over 161 areas to amend in the constitution and we are going to give them the breakdown in the coming engagements. This won’t be the first and last engagement. We are going to have a couple of engagements. This is how we want to do it, differently from how it has been done,” he said.

On tax reforms, Kalu said, “To be fair to the governors, they did not dwell on tax reforms. It was generally about the constitution. they spoke on the local government reforms, what we are looking at. We are also not emphatic about state police.”

In a communique signed by the Kwara State governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), AbdulRahman Abdulrazaq, at the end of their meeting, the governors resolved to actively engaged in the ongoing constitution amendment process with a view to strengthening the country’s legal framework.

The communique reads in part, “The Deputy Speaker emphasised the importance of collaboration between the Forum and the Committee, proposing the establishment of a “one-stop shop” framework to align state-level priorities with the constitutional review process.

“Governors pledged their support for the initiative and reaffirmed their commitment to actively engage in shaping amendments that strengthen Nigeria’s constitution.”

The governors also resolved to strengthen collaboration between federal and state governments, improve the quality of girl- child education and integrate vocational training among others in the country.

On the issue of the new terror group known as Lakurawa, which has killed many innocent Nigerians in Kebbi, Sokoto and other states in the North West, Kaduna State governor, Uba Sani, who read the communique said, “We all face various security challenges, but we are working closely with the relevant security agencies. We are very confident that it is a matter of time. All these issues will be over.”