The Federal House of Representatives on Thursday presented results of a voting process among 360 federal constituencies on the review of the 1999 Constitution conducted during Peoples Public Sessions conducted by the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution.
The results reflected popular discontent with the extent of immunity enjoyed by public office holders, the lack of financial autonomy to local government councils, the constitution of state arms of the Independent National Electoral commission (INEC), the calls for rotational presidency, state Police, and granting of voting rights to Nigerian in the Diaspora.
The voting pattern reflected that Nigerians unanimously wanted financial autonomy for local councils. They therefore called for the scrapping of the joint state local council accounts in order that local councils can directly receive allocations accruing to them. In addition, they wanted third-tier-of-government status for local councils and that local councils should not receive allocations when manned by unelected chairmen while the tenure of council chairmen and councillors should also be specifically defined.
There was also a wide call for the abolishment of the state independent electoral commission so that INEC conducts all elections. Financial autonomy for state Houses of Assembly, just like the National Assembly, was also supported.
Nigerians seemed to prefer the status quo on state Police, voting against the idea of ceding control of state commissioners of police to respective state governors and instead endorsing the system in the current constitution.
Similarly, the insertion of rotation of the office of the president between the North and South or rotating it among the six geo-political zones of the country was rejected. It was the same voting pattern for the question of whether or not a provision should be inserted in the constitution to rotate the office of the governor of a state among the three senatorial districts in the state.
There was overwhelming support for the amendment of the constitution to reduce the immunity of the president, vice president, governor or deputy governor to civil proceedings alone. However, there was opposition for the proposal to grant voting rights to Nigerians in the Diaspora; meanwhile, retention of the present presidential system of government and bi-cameral legislature in the country was supported.
There were equally voting supports for the two-term tenures of governors and the president, independent candidature in elections, insertion of specific responsibilities in the constitution for traditional rulers, and judicial reforms targeted at quicker dispensation of justice. It was the same story for the proposal to separate the office of the attorney-general of the federation from that of minister of justice, for the proposal that Nigeria should implement the practice of federalism that allows states to control up to 50 per cent of their resources and pay the remainder to the federation.
But the proposals for the abolishment of the National Youth Service Corps Act, the Land Use Act, Public Complaints Commission Act, and National Security Agencies Act from the constitution were not well-received.
Speaking on the report, Chairman of the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution and Deputy Speaker of the house, Hon. EmekaIhedioha clarified that the collated results are not the views of the speaker, deputy speaker or the leadership of the lower chamber but of the people.
“It is also not the views of the House of Representatives as an institution. They are the collective response of Nigerians to the questions posed in the template,” he said.
“The process may not be perfect, but I dare say that it is the first time in the history of this country that Nigerians at the grassroots have been made part of the constitution review process in a practical and transparent manner.”
Speaker of the House, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, received the report with the assurance that all views represented in would be painstakingly considered in the lead-up to the amendment of the constitution.
