The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, has assured that the National Assembly will carry Nigerians along in the ongoing constitutional amendment, saying the legislature will not dump any constitution on Nigerians.
He spoke in Lagos at the opening of a retreat organised for the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review and Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO).
The retreat was to foster collaborations between the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review and Judicial Officers on proposals for constitutional alterations to enhance Nigeria’s judicial system.
Kalu, who is the Chairman of the House Committee on the Review of the Constitution, emphasised the critical objectives of the engagement, which included shielding the judiciary from political pressure, expanding court jurisdictions and ensuring fair and credible elections.
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He highlighted the judiciary’s pivotal role in interpreting laws, maintaining balance of power and guaranteeing citizens’ freedom.
He said the National Assembly was aggressively engaging Nigerians to ensure that no stakeholder was left behind.
He said, “What we are doing at the moment is engaging with the people of Nigeria and not leaving out any stakeholder and any sector. We have been there to handle security and gender abuse and had people deliberate on it. Today we are doing it for the judiciary because they are the ones who interpret this piece of legislation, they wear the shoes, so they know where it pinches and it was high time they stated to us the areas where the holes exist in our pursuit of justice for the common man.
“So that was why we brought them together and what Nigerians should expect at the end of this engagement, the input of the judiciary will be well harvested and that constitution that will pursue the justice of everyone in Nigeria will be drafted waiting for the assent of Mr President.”
He assured Nigerians that nobody would dump any constitution on anybody again as it would be a product of participation.
He also admonished Nigerians to participate in the process.
“Don’t just claim the legislators made this law, be part of making this law, that is what the constitution expects from you, when you hear of town hall meetings advertised by our committee kindly participate,” he said.
The Deputy Speaker also highlighted the thematic areas for the proposed constitutional amendments, including federal structure and devolution of powers, independent candidacy, public revenue and fiscal federation, legislature, electoral reforms, local government autonomy, fundamental human rights, Nigerian police and security architecture, judicial reforms, immunity, gender and vulnerable groups, state creation, traditional institutions, residency and indigeneity, and governance.
The Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, stated that some previous amendments failed to achieve the desired impact on account of inadequate consultation, deficit of introspective impact, analysis and lack of sincerity driven by personal interest.
Fagbemi said, “For example, many states are yet to take advantage of items that we recently mulled from the exclusive to the concurrent legislative list.
“The driving force of every amendment of our laws must be anchored in the pillars of advancing the course of democracy and National development,” he said.
He however charged the House committee to look into the challenges confronting the running of the affairs of government structures across the state houses of assembly in Nigeria.
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