The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Idris Wase has disclosed that the House would consider the creation of states, state police, true federalism, local government and judicial autonomy in the review of the 1999 constitution.
Wase, who is the chairman of the House Special Ad hoc committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution, made the disclosure at the inauguration of the committee at the National Assembly, NASS, on Thursday.
“Let me start by stating the need and importance of reviewing our extant constitution cannot be overemphasized as a vast majority of Nigerians consider the 1999 constitution a product of military exigency and that the reference to ‘We the people’ in the constitution does not truly represent them. Various political actors have therefore been advocating for a serious review.
“There has been several attempts to amend the 1999 Constitution, yet the agitations for a much more fundamental amendment has not stopped.
“This is because there are very critical aspects of our Constitution that touch on our continued existence as a strong, indivisible Nation. Until these critical areas are resolved, we may continue to face clamor for a new Constitution.
“Therefore, in order to achieve the much needed success by the 9th Assembly, there are pertinent areas that must be looked into. These are burning issues that have been left to burn for so long without giving them the much needed attention,” Wase said.
The burning issues according to Wase include, “The federal structure (true federalism), local government autonomy, state policing, state creation and judicial autonomy”.
He said, already over 15 constitution alteration bills have been referred to the committee touching on these broad thematic areas.
