The Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives. Benjamin Kalu, has disclosed that the House received 40 bills regarding the review and amendment of the nation’s Constitution.

He added that the House is considering the December 2025 deadline to complete the review and amendment.

Kalu, who doubles as the Chairman, Constitution Review Committee, stated this on Wednesday at the maiden meeting of the committee while addressing journalists in Abuja.

He said, “It is the view of Mr. Speaker that we set a realistic timeline that does not conflict with electoral activities which would advertently or inadvertently affect the alteration process, specifically, December 2025, the time we are looking at to conclude the activities of this committee.

“It is not out of place to guess that there is some level of fatigue in the amendment process by some vocal sections of the populace. Whatever opinion you hold, it is important to let you know that we presently have 40 bills that are at various stages of consideration that relate to the alteration of the Constitution.

“We are well aware of our present challenging circumstances as a nation. The twin challenges of insecurity and economic difficulties could tamper with the confidence of our citizens. It is, therefore, our constitutional responsibility to respond to the 40 bills so far proposed and also attend to the duty of government to ensure the security and welfare of the citizens as provided by the constitution.”.

Recalling the significance of previous attempts at constitutional review, Kalu, who represents Bende Federal Constituency, Abia State, noted that since 1999, the House has made reforms including judicial reforms, electoral reforms, age reduction, among others.

“Since 2010, the National Assembly has successfully amended and made landmark changes to our constitution since it was first handed over to Nigeria in 1999 by the military regime of General Abdulsalam Abubakar.

“Since then, some of the significant amendments successfully made by previous efforts include judicial reforms, electoral reforms, age reduction, allowing younger persons to be appointed into the Independent National Electoral Commission as Chairman or Resident Electoral Commissioners and also allowing a lower age for contest into certain elective positions, moving certain responsibilities of government from the exclusive legislative cist into the Concurrent legislative list to allow for increased federalism among other things,” he said.


Ahead of the inauguration, the lawmaker highlighted actions to be undertaken including, “Expediting commencement of preparations, constitution of the secretariat and appointment of consultants as well as drafting of a work plan for the committee.”

The deputy speaker also called on the committee members to take the assignment seriously, reminding them of the reasons the attempt by previous assemblies did not yield the required results.

“In the last constitution review efforts, there were some key constitution amendment proposals that did not pass either because we did not fully understand their provisions or we did not have enough time to agree on them.

“An example was the proposal to create additional seats for women in Federal and State Legislative Houses. Let us use this opportunity to understand this proposal, hoping that those who are the promoters of this particular amendment will start their advocacy timely and be more thorough and comprehensive, reaching the stakeholders to control the mindsets of their representatives,” Kalu stated.

The 37-man committee is made up of representatives of the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

Kalu pledged the provision of adequate resources to enable the committee to deliver on its mandate.

“The secretariat will be very well equipped to function optimally and deliver results. We have created a partnership with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre which has committed to supporting the work of this committee as they have done in previous constitution review efforts,” he said.

The committee is billed for inauguration on February 26, 2024.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/punchng.com/reps-receive-40-bills-on-constitution-amendment-set-december-2025-deadline/%3famp

The question should be "would there still be a Nigeria needing a reviewed constitution by 2025"?

Amending the constitution will not change anything. Since the constitution was amended to give states authority over electricity, rail and prisons in their domain, how many of them have taken advantage of that? The Governors are very lazy, they are all waiting for the federal government to do everything for them. Only Lagos state is doing something innovative.

gaby:
The question should be "would there still be a Nigeria needing a reviewed constitution by 2025"?

The answer is Yes

Devolution in every sectors and restructuring which include return to regionalism. That was the major highlight of the country.

Anything short of breakup or atleast, regional system of govt is a waste of time.

The constitution must be amended whether they like it or not. We can't continue with this current constitution and expect any development.

We must go back to regional system government for there to be any significant development.

Which coutry is this?

Waste of time

GOD BLESS NIGERIA 🇳🇬

gaby:
The question should be "would there still be a Nigeria needing a reviewed constitution by 2025"?

Sharap.. na so Una don dey talk since 1993.

Hmmm

post=128224207:
GOD BLESS NIGERIA 🇳🇬

Dey there dey play.

Nigeria wey devil don curse.

I have yet to understand why we need two houses for national assembly.

What can senators do that reps cannot and vice versa?

Since we are so obsessed with two houses, how come states don't have reps and senators?

Cyberterror:
Amending the constitution will not change anything. Since the constitution was amended to give states authority over electricity, rail and prisons in their domain, how many of them have taken advantage of that? The Governors are very lazy, they are all waiting for the federal government to do everything for them. Only Lagos state is doing something innovative.

Very good point!

The governor of each state should be encouraged to take 100% responsibility for all the money the need to function. How can a state be collecting salaries ( allocation) every month from his father federal government at this jet age? Security votes and allocations are the reasons politicians want to kill themselves during elections.

At the dusk of Buhari administration, several amendments were made and were passed down to state assemblies for concurrence. Unfortunately, the latter torpedoed many critical bills bothering LG, legislative and judiciary autonomy. I just hope this won't be another round of wastage

they should just gather APC with their supporters and lock them up somewhere.this country don't need dead brains any more

gaby:
The question should be "would there still be a Nigeria needing a reviewed constitution by 2025"?

You're right on the money!

so it is Abubakar constitutions

They ammend or super glue the constitution it wouldn't change a damm thing! What will save the zoo is to split the Zoo into 4 countries or atleast 3 countries, otherwise nothing will change, the Zoo will inevitably implode eventually, question is... when?

Paraman:



https://www.google.com/amp/s/punchng.com/reps-receive-40-bills-on-constitution-amendment-set-december-2025-deadline/%3famp

The most important thing they need to include in the constitution is what they are not willing to face.
There should be a clause in the fraudulent constitution to allow for referendum to make any part of the country that want to leave leave in peace. This amalgamation is not working.
There should also be room for plebiscite where the citizens will decide what favours them and not some clowns in Abuja.

Any bill that doesn't include removing the power of the president from choosing and appointing the chairman of INEC or RECs or the CJN or IGP is a waste of time!

They are just wasting their time....1999 constitution should be totally discarded. The northern will not allow anyone to touch that constitution because it favours them

The Judiciary, states HoA and the LGs should be fully autonomous. State and LGs police that won't be at the beck and call of the governor. People who served Nigeria should be assured of their future- it would reduce corruption.

post=128224207:
GOD BLESS NIGERIA 🇳🇬

Nothing concern God with what Nigeria is facing. The most religious country are the ones with much problems.

bentenny:
Any bill that doesn't include removing the power of the president from choosing and appointing the chairman of INEC or RECs or the CJN or IGP is a waste of time!

#Words. The Constitution favors corruption 100%. It would be amended by the corrupt anyways

Hope they added state police, we need to defend ourselves from these Fulani terrorists invading our native lands