Constitution Amendment: Another Exercise in Futility?

Udora Orizu writes that the 9th National Assembly’s attempt to amend the 1999 constitution may be another exercise in futility following recent accusations by the presiding officers of both Chambers that State Assemblies are stalling the process

With less than six months to the end of tenure of the Ninth National Assembly, it appears that the constitution amendment process may not be concluded as the presiding officers are lamenting delay by their counterparts in the States to consider and vote on the amendment bills sent to them since March, 2022.

The 1999 Constitution has been described as fundamentally flawed and military imposed, with many Nigerians desperately clamouring for a truly federal people’s constitution.

Over the years, several attempts by the past assemblies to amend the constitution have failed with huge sums voted for the exercise wasted.

Before the 9th Assembly, another attempt was made by the 8th Assembly. The then Senate President,Dr Bukola Saraki, promised that he will rigorously work with his colleagues for the betterment of all Nigerians.

Available records showed that about 33 bills for constitutional review were available for review by the 8th Assembly, with 28 of them passed by the House. Out of this number, 17 got concurrence from the Senate, while four were passed with differences.

Nevertheless, 17 bills were sent to the State Houses of Assembly for concurrence, in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. But 12 of these came back to the House ratified, while five, including the bill on local government autonomy, were rejected, having failed to receive the approval of two-thirds of the state assemblies.

Assuming office in June, 2019, just like the past assemblies, the ninth assembly lawmakers in their legislative agenda promised to repeal the offending provisions encumbering the country’s democracy by reworking and giving Nigerians a progressive document.

While most Nigerians were sceptical about the possibility of the Ninth National Assembly breaking the jinx, the process finally commenced and eventually in March this year, both the Senate and House of Representatives voted on the 68 proposals as recommended by its ad-hoc committees on the review of the 1999 Constitution, and 44 bills were adopted.

The adopted proposals were thereafter transmitted to the State Houses of Assembly to get concurrence of at least two-thirds which is 24 states, as stipulated in sections 9(2) and (3) of the 1999 constitution.

However as at October, only 11 states have voted on the constitution amendment bills. The states whose houses of assembly have voted on the bills are Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Delta, Edo, Kaduna, Katsina, Kogi, Lagos, Ogun and Osun states.

The remaining 25 states that are yet to consider the bills have threatened to take no action on the bills unless four more constitutional amendment bills are considered and passed by the National Assembly.

The four are bills for establishment of State Police; State Judicial Council; Streamline the procedure for removing Presiding Officers of State Houses of Assembly and institutionalize Legislative Bureaucracy in the Constitution.

Their demands were contained in a letter from the Conference of Speakers to the National Assembly Joint Committee on Constitutional Review.

Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, who disclosed the States position while addressing journalists recently, accused state governors in the country of trying to stall the process of further amendment to the nation’s constitution.

Omo-Agege who’s also the Chairman, Senate Adhoc Committee on Constitution Review, described the refusal of the state assemblies to vote on the bills as disheartening and worrisome.

While he said the National Assembly is not averse to acting on any proposed bill appropriately tabled before it, the lawmaker said it is legally inappropriate for the Conference of Speakers to use the four bills as a quid pro quo to act on the 44 bills.

He also accused some state governors of interfering in the affairs of State Houses of Assembly and turning some of its lawmakers to puppets for their selfish gains.

“It is clear that this letter is not in keeping with the obligation of the Constitution,” he said. “We are aware of the undue interference with legislative processes and the political capture of some State Houses of Assembly by some state governors.

“No doubt, some state governors have worked tirelessly to turn the Conference of Speakers and some State Assemblies into political puppets, thereby undermining and delegitimising the legislative institution at the state level. This interference has been ramped up, especially in opposition to the Bills granting financial and administrative autonomy to Local Governments,” Omo-Agege said

Reacting, the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures declared that its members will not be intimidated or blackmailed by anyone irrespective of their position.

In a statement by the Chairman of the Speakers’ Forum, Hon Abubakar Suleiman, said a rejoinder to the claims made by the Deputy Senate President would have been unnecessary.

He, however, said it became necessary to react to it in view of the fact that it was with the intention of blackmailing and undermining the State Houses of Assembly  with the aim of misleading the public.

Recent Accusation

Also recently, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, accused the state Houses of Assembly of obstructing the process of amendment to the 1999 Constitution.

Gbajabiamila who spoke in Abuja at the second edition of the distinguished parliamentarian lecture series organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), said the ninth National Assembly might not be able to complete the on-going amendment process before the expiration of its term.

Gbajabiamila, in his paper, entitled, “Delivering on our contract with Nigeria: Implementing the Legislative Agenda of the ninth House of Representatives – Progress, Challenges and Way Forward,” highlighted major challenges to the constitution amendment.

He lamented that many state assemblies had yet to legislate on the 44 bills aimed at amending critical aspects of the 1999 Constitution, which was sent to them by the National Assembly since March.

The Speaker regretted that the Houses of Assembly were frustrating the efforts of the federal lawmakers to pass the amendments to the constitution before the Ninth Assembly ends its tenure in the second week of June next year.

His words, “That process now seems to have stalled in the state assemblies. As it is today, it is doubtful that the current constitutional amendment effort will conclude before the expiration of this legislative term. Despite broad national agreement on the need for reform, the potential for achievement can rise or fall, based on differences in expectations of the context, pace, and direction of the specific proposals.

“The success or failure of every significant governance initiative depends on the extent to which the objective is a shared priority of the different arms of government and, in some cases, of the state governments. Several of the commitments in the legislative agenda require amendments to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to achieve them. If you took a poll in this room now about the importance and need for substantive reforms to our nation’s constitution, I am sure the poll would return an overwhelming majority in favour. The National Assembly has passed a draft of amendments to the constitution and advanced them to the states as required.”

Speaking in the same vein, President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, while declaring open the lecture urged Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state to prevail on his colleagues to encourage their state Houses of Assembly to transmit back to the National Assembly their responses on the constitution amendment bills sent to them.

Lawan said, “We will task you to lobby for us. We have sent (to the states) the outcome of our constitution review and we are yet to receive all from the states. So, we should be able to wind up this process by getting responses from the state Houses of Assembly. Even if it is one month left, we have the capacity, working together, to ensure that we pass some of the legislations that are required in a very expeditious manner..Lobby your governor colleagues, because I can see that you do that very well.”

But, the Kaduna State governor, who was the chairman of the occasion, urged the National Assembly to work on pieces of legislation that would lead to the creation of state police, among others.