The Senate has urged the Emeka Anyaoku-led ‘The Patriot’ to avail itself of the opportunity of the public hearing to be organised by the National Assembly to air their views on their proposal for a brand new constitution.

Recall that a group of eminent Nigerians led by former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, under the auspices of ‘The Patriot’ are demanding a new constitution for Nigeria.

The Patriots contended that the 1999 constitution has limitations, adding that it has failed to address Nigeria’s challenges, necessitating their demand for a brand new constitution.

However, reacting to the Patriots’ demand at the weekend, during an interactive session with newsmen in Ilawe-Ekiti, his country home, the spokesman of the Senate, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, said that the National Assembly is already in place to make laws, look into constitution making or amendments.

“We urge our patriotic patriots to avail themselves of the opportunities that are going to be open to everyone. We welcome input from all Nigerians — elders, professionals, political leaders, traditional rulers, youth groups, women’s groups, CSOs, and even Nigerians in the diaspora.

“Once that report is ready, the Senate, in conjunction with the House of Representatives, will hold a comprehensive public hearing. This hearing will allow all stakeholders, those who submitted requests and those opposed to them, to present their arguments. After then, the two chambers will now sit together concurrently to pick which request is genuine.

“The final document, whether a completely new constitution or an amended one, will reflect the collective input of Nigerians, not just the opinion of one group. Our goal is to ensure that whatever constitutional changes are made will be in the best interest of Nigeria and its people.”

Speaking on the issue of state creation, Adaramodu said that the Senate has received about 61 requests for state creation during its interactions with constituents from the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria, saying these demands and requests were formally submitted.

He said, “First, the Senate cannot unilaterally create states; such requests must be considered during a constitutional review process. In such cases, Nigerians and other critical stakeholders will express their interests, which often range from local government autonomy to state creation and even the creation of more local governments.

“There is also the validation of new Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) created by various state governments, such as Lagos State and my own state in Ekiti. All of these will still be reviewed and examined. We will collate them, after which the Constitutional Review Committee, headed by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Jibrin Barau, in the 10th Senate, will aggregate, assess, and filter them before preparing a report to the Senate.”

On the perception that the amended constitution may not come to reality by the current assembly, the Senate Spokesman said: “Constitutional review is a timeless process; it is not bound to the tenure of the 10th Senate or House of Representatives. It can start at any time in a legislative year. With full commitment, amendments can be made quickly by the time we resume if Nigerians demand them.” (The Guardian)