Afenifere to Legislature: Stop Blame Game, Pass Constitution Amendment Bill Now

* Kicks against proposed Indigeneship

Emameh Gabriel in Abuja

A pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has called on the legislative arms of government at the federal and state levels to stop pointing fingers at each other over the none passage of the constitutional amendment bill.
Afenifere also urged the federal lawmakers and their counterparts in the states to do everything possible to ensure that the sections of the 1999 constitutions meant to be amended were expeditiously passed between now and January 2023 at the latest.
This even as the group maintained that the provision on indigeneship as proposed in the amendments must also be expunged “to protect indigenous peoples.”
In a statement by its national publicity secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, Afenifere said the blame game must stop to avoid a case of ‘begin again for the next assemblies of lawmakers”.
Ajayi recounted how the constitution amendments made by the 8th Assembly went into oblivion, because it could not be concluded before the expiration of that assembly at the end of May, 2019.
“Presently, the National Assembly and Conference of Speakers of Houses of Assembly are trading blames on why the amendments have not been passed. Nigerians are not interested in the bickering. Rather, Nigerians want the amendments to be promptly passed and made to become law.
“Although the 44 amendments are short of what is expected, they are certainly better than what we have presently, because of some powers they confer on state and local governments in the country” Ajayi observed, adding that state police must be allowed in the Amendments.
Afenifere, therefore, urged the National Assembly to factor in the amendments suggested by the speakers “since the constitution that included them in the process anticipates their inputs…The Amendments must continue till we get the restructured Nigeria that we desire soonest.”