Apathy by the majority of the 36 State Houses of Assembly appears to be slowing down the planned amendments to the 1999 Constitution, according to an investigation by The Nation.

Only nine state legislatures have so far voted on the 44 Constitution Review Bills passed by the National Assembly and dispatched to the states on March 29 for endorsement or otherwise.

The affected states have accordingly submitted their decisions to the Constitution Review Committee.

With public campaigns by the parties expected to commence next month and the crucial presidential election taking place on February 25, 2023, there are fears that the constitution review may not materialise after all.

But Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege, who doubles as chairman of the National Assembly Constitution Review Committee, says there is no cause for such fears.

He is confident that work on the review will be concluded by October, which is another two months from now.

It was gathered that preparations by many legislators for the last party primaries hampered progress on the constitution review, especially at the state level.

Many of the legislators spent considerable time and energy trying to get their party’s ticket for a fresh term.

Besides, many of the state houses of assembly are currently on vacation.

The deadline may not have been met as lawmakers across the country have resumed their annual vacation.

A source said: “Some Presiding Officers of State Houses of Assembly are still waiting to harmonise their positions on the bills with their state governors.

“The governors, who are overly busy in view of the 2023 general elections, as you know, have an over-bearing influence on the administration of State Houses of Assembly in the country.

”You know this is also an election season and some lawmakers could not secure their reelection tickets. As far as some states are concerned, voting on the bills would have to wait till after the 2023 general elections in March next year.

“The fear is that the time may be too short for the bills to be reviewed by the Presidency before being assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari, when transmitted.

“Give or take, the ongoing constitution review has a 50-50 per cent chance of sailing through or being abandoned.

“It all depends on the political will of the executive working with the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly.”

States that have turned in their reports include Edo, Kogi, Lagos, Katsina, Imo, Abia, Ogun and Ondo.

For any amendment to sail through, it has to have the backing of at least two-thirds of the 36 state assemblies and two-thirds of members of both chamber of the National Assembly.

Conference of Speakers of State Houses of Assembly Chairman, Abubakar Suleiman, said recently that the state legislatures would conclude deliberations on the 44 bills by the middle of this month.

Suleiman, who is also the Bauchi State House of Assembly Speaker, said: “The state houses of assembly have resolved to play their constitutional role in the ongoing review of the constitution in a good time.

“In other words, after due consideration, we shall transmit back to the National Assembly the resolutions on the ongoing Constitution Review by the first week of August, 2022.

“The National Assembly has passed its resolution. If we (state legislatures) find any proposed amendment that will not go down well with the people, particularly at the grassroots, we will not hesitate to object to it.

“However, until we carry out our legislative function by way of consultation and public hearings, such areas, if any, can’t be established.

“All the state houses of assembly are working on the Resolutions of the NASS presently.

“The Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria in its first quarter general meeting held on April 2, 2022 in Ibadan, Oyo State, resolved among other things, that each state assembly should carry out public hearings in order to galvanise the inputs and views of the people at the grassroots on the ongoing Constitution review exercise.

”We decided not to rush and do a shoddy job. So, if the expectations were that we are going to transmit the Resolutions back to the National Assembly within a week of its receipt, then we would not have done justice to the exercise, and that would be a great disservice to the nation.”

John Mutu, an official of PEARL, the Civil Society Organisation coordinating the responses from the states on behalf of the Constitution Review Committee, told The Nation in Abuja that the other states were at different stages of consideration of the amendments.

He said: “As at the end of July, nine states have completed their consideration and voted on the bills. The other states are at different stages.

“I am sure that within the next two weeks, they would have concluded the process. The process is on, but it has not been as fast as we want.”

Omo-Agege: We’ll deliver amendments by October

Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege is optimistic that the Fifth Alteration to the Constitution should be ready not later than October.

Omo-Agege, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yomi Odunuga, said the Constitution Review Committee has been receiving favourable responses from states.

He said: “We have been having favourable responses from states. The states that have responded actually passed all the Bills that were passed by the National Assembly.

“The states that have submitted their responses so far passed everything. They just finished the Conference of Speakers’ meeting.

“That also delayed the passage of the Bills by some states, and then some of them went for Hajj and they came back.

“But one thing that is guaranteed is that this administration will pass the Bills that have been submitted by the states and would ensure that President Muhammadu Buhari signs them into law.”

He added: “You also know that both chambers of the National Assembly are on recess. Before they come back, other states would have passed and submitted theirs.

“They are sure of that because they actually met with the Speakers and that was the assurance they gave.

“After they do that, it will now be left in the hands of both chambers of the National Assembly to sit again and then ratify the Bills approved and submitted by the State Houses of Assembly.”

Responding to a question on when the constitution review committee met with Speakers of State Houses of Assembly, he said: “You know the process of constitution review is an ongoing discussion. You don’t just submit and keep quiet.

“You need to also ginger them and to ask them to discuss it on time because everybody is working against time.

“So, there has always been some kind of consultations here and there where they sit and discuss the way forward.

“All I can tell you at this time is that before this administration winds up, those amendments would be effected in the constitution.”

The Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Ojo Olatunde Amos, had on March 29 transmitted 44 Constitution Review Bills to Clerks of State Houses of Assembly in the 36 states for further consideration and passage as required by law.

The Clerk to the Delta State House of Assembly, who is also the Chairperson, Forum of Clerks of State Houses of Assembly, Mrs. Lyna Aliya Ocholor, received the Bills on behalf of 34 of her colleagues who were present at the ceremony at the National Assembly in Abuja.

The Senate had empanelled a 56-man ad hoc Committee chaired by Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege to kick-start the process. A similar committee headed by Deputy Speaker Ahmed Idris Wase was set up in the House of Representatives.

On March 1, the two chambers voted on recommendations of their respective committees and passed 44 out of the 68 bills listed for consideration. Twenty-four of the bills were rejected by both chambers.

The 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides in Section 9(2) that: “An Act of the National Assembly for the alteration of this Constitution, not being an Act to which Section 8 of this Constitution applies, shall not be passed in either House of the National Assembly unless the proposal is supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds majority of all the members of that House and approved by resolution of the Houses of Assembly of not less than two-thirds of all the states.”

Some of the amendment bills adopted by the NASS and forwarded to the states for endorsement are :

*To expand the Interpretation of Judicial Office to include Courts or Tribunals created by an Act of the National Assembly or a State House of Assembly.

*Allow for fair hearing in the process of recommendation of removal of judicial officers by the State Judicial Service Commission.

*To move airports from Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List.

*To move Fingerprints, Identification and Criminal Records from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List.

*To delete prisons in the Exclusive Legislative List and re-designate it as Correctional Services in the Concurrent Legislative List.

* To move Railway from the Exclusive Legislative List to Concurrent Legislative List.

* To allow states to generate, transmit and distribute electricity in areas covered by the national grid.

* Domestication of treaties.

*Timeline for presentation of Appropriation bill by president and governors.

*Timeline for president and governors to submit names of ministerial nominees and commissioners.

* To include Presiding Officers of the National Assembly in the membership of the National Security Council

* Establishment of State Security Council

* Legislative powers to summon presidents and governors

* To reduce the period which the president or governor may authorise withdrawal of monies from CRF

* To Replace the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation with the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government

* To establish the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federal Government separate from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation

* Timeframe for the Conduct of Population Census

* To establish the Office of the Attorney–General of the Federation and of the State separate from the Office of the Minister of Justice or Commissioners for Justice of the state in order to make the Offices Attorneys–General Independent and Insulated from Partisanship –

* State of the Nation and State of the State Address by the President and Governor

* To include former heads of the National Assembly in the Council of State .

* Termination of tenure of elected officials after change of political party .

* Bill to enhance existing provisions on the formation of political parties .

* Independent candidacy. (The Nation)

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