6 December 2017
The Adhoc committee of the Speakers’ Conference facilitating the process of amending the Constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria has submitted its preliminary report to the Conference of Speakers of Nigeria.
Presenting its report at the Enugu meeting of the conference last Saturday, the Secretary of the committee who is the Speaker of Cross River State House of Assembly, Rt Hon John Gaul Lebo expressed that besides the initial reports being presented, state legislatures must ensure that the interests of their constituents are reflected in the final output.
The summary of the report recommended that:
1. The state Legislature immediately convene town hall meetings, stakeholders engagement and public hearing to allow for stakeholders input and facilitate adequate understanding of the utility of the Constitutional amendment in each state.
2. The appropriate House committee, especially that of judiciary and public Petitions should present a formal report of the public hearing stage and stakeholders engagement with views of the public hearing to the house and thereafter the report should be deliberated upon at the committee of the whole presided over by the speaker as chairman of committee of the whole.
3. The state Legislatures should thereafter immediately commence to vote on the proposed Amendment bills and open their public gallery to as many people as possible and interest groups. CSOs and NGOs should be given adequate attention.
4. The voting process should be transparent and open to the public, media and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), and should reflect the views expressed at the public hearing.
5. The first set resolvable bills in each state Legislature should be voted for and the resolutions communicated to the committee for onward submission to the National ASSEMBLY on or before the 21st of December 2017.
6. So far only 15 bills have been transmitted to each state Assembly; the remaining 12 bills will be transmitted as soon as the current 15 bills have been voted.
7. The committee secretariat will provide adequate templates and reference framework to support and facilitate easy understanding of the Constitution Amendment process and ensure strict compliance with the relevant provisions of the Constitution.
Azogor Ideba
Is the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the 8th Cross River State House of Assembly
