Mark, Uduaghan, Amaechi, Ekweremadu, Others Brainstorm On New Constitution

GOING by the speeches of different speakers and

stakeholders at the on-going retreat of the Senate

Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution,

critical issues of devolution of powers, fiscal

federalism, the concept of federating units, the

system of local government administration,

including funding, creation and autonomy, will be at

the front burner as members of the Upper

Legislative arm meet in the Delta State, capital of

Asaba.

The speakers, which included Senate President, David Mark; Deputy Senate

President, Ike Ekweremadu; Deputy House of Representatives Speaker, Emeka

Ihedioha; Delta State governor Emmanuel Uduaghan; his Rivers State counterpart,

Mr. Rotimi Amaechi and a host of others all seemed to agree that other areas that

need to be looked at are judicial reforms, creation of states, national security –

terrorism and insurgency – boundary adjustment, further fine-tuning of the electoral

system, state police, citizenship versus indigeneship, the role of traditional rulers

and prisons.

Mark said that the 1999 Constitution which was bequeathed to the country by the

military was far from being a perfect document as no plebiscite or referendum

preceded its promulgation.

He said: “The Constitution is for all Nigerians and not for Senators alone. It is

therefore the synthesis of the true will of the Nigerian people that will be reflected in

the Constitution. But what we will not allow is for a vocal minority to foist its dictates

on Nigerians. The Senate will resist any such attempt. We will certainly not permit

the thunder of a fraction to drown the voice of the nation.”

He said that the success of the exercise required the keen participation, commitment

and co-operation of several stakeholders which include the Houses of Assembly of

the 36 States of the Federation, the Federal and State Governments, and the general

public who must be carried along.

For Uduaghan, the 1999 Constitution was born under unusual circumstances as the

document was midwifed by the military and handed over to civilians.

The Delta State governor said that there is an urgent need to amend the Constitution

as by its structure, military orientation is not often in alignment with popular

democratic wishes of the people.

He advised the promoters of Sovereign National Conference (SNC) to step forward

with their proposals and make same available to the Committee as part of their

inputs in building a Constitution that will herald better democratic governance.

Fiscal Federalism, Uduaghan insisted was about allocation of resources to secure the

autonomy of the respective federating units as well as the central government in a

true federation, saying that the principle of fiscal federalism underlying the 1999

Constitution was inequitable and flawed in that it has left the Niger Delta prostrate.

On his part, Amaechi claimed they are restrained by the overbearing unitary

provisions of the Constitution which cripples substantially the spirit and letters of

federalism upon which Nigeria was built. “It is our view that the Constitution needs a

radical review in order to enthrone true federalism and fiscal federalism,” he said