The Senate last Thursday held a national public hearing on the review of the 1999 Constitution at the International Conference Centre, Abuja. In this piece, DEBORAH OLUSEGUN and SANDRA OBOCHI, who attended the hearing, bring a glimpse of the diverse presentations made at the public hearing.
The national public hearing organized by the Senate to review the 1999 Constitution held in Abuja last Thursday. It drew participants from vested interest groups and organisations as well as prominent Nigerians who made presentations on various sections of the nation’s ground norm they want altered.
The issues canvassed at the public range from gender equity, fiscal federalism, local government autonomy o, revenue allocation, state policing, judicial and electoral reforms, the definition of residency and indigeneship, the controversial immunity clause, approved timeline for assenting to a bill and passage of the appropriation bill, states and local government creation, administration of the Federal Capital Territory, constitutional roles for traditional rulers, the legislature and legislative bureaucracy and other issues that could promote national unity and good governance. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in its memoranda asked that in the area of gender equity, the age of maturity should be put at 18 years, while women should be empowered through education and inheritance and accorded equal opportunities in social- politico affairs.
President of CAN, Rev. (Dr.) Samson Olasupo Ayokunle, who was represented by the Director, Legal and Public Affairs, Comfort Chigbue suggested that to improve women participation in politics, every male president of the country must have a woman as his vice-president. Also, CAN proposed that Nigeria be made into a confederation of independent regions or a federation of states or regions, just as it opposed any constitutional role for traditional and religious leaders in terms of strengthening their cultural and social-religious responsibilities. The group further asked that the immunity clause for state governors be expunged on the grounds that all persons are equal before the law.
The CAN General Secretary, Mr. Joseph Daramola speaking to journalists said that “except we are pretending not to know what is happening, the majority of the state executives hide under that immunity clause to perpetrate heinous acts on the citizens. There is nothing you can do about them; if a state governor decides to throw you out of his state, you cannot challenge him in court because he has that immunity. We are now saying that everybody should be equal before the law.” Former Minister of Education and rights activist, Oby Ezekwesili, while representing the interest of the Fix Politics Initiative said that the 1999 Constitution needed to be replaced because it had outlived its usefulness. She said that the constitution was hindering the country from transforming into a nation and the only request of the organization she represents is for the conduct of a referendum and the constitution of a referendum commission that would deliberate on a new constitution. “The maturing of our democracy is dependent on us admitting that the current 1999 Constitution has passed its sell-by-date. It has given us all it can give us. We need to centre the citizens in our democracy, and we need to move from a country to a nation.
We call for a conversation around the single issue amendment for a referendum and a referendum commission for our deliberation on a new constitution for the country. “What we ask the National Assembly to do is to single issue amendment to allow for referendum by the citizens. I end on this note, if you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor,” Ezekwesili declared to a stunned audience. In his submission, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed said the exercise is a golden opportunity to examine the nation’s judicial system and how to make it more effective, efficient and relevant. He spoke on the need to digitize the court system through the use of modern technologies to reduce the time wasted in hearing cases, including accepting the use of Short Message Service (SMS) in the service of hearing notices.
Also, Justice Mohammed sought the alteration of the constitution to mandate the National Judicial Council (NJC) to fix and review judges’ salaries every four years, arguing that judges’ salaries have remained stagnant for 13 years. The chief justice equally called for the number of justices on the Supreme Court bench to be reduced from 21 to 16, that the constitution be amended to make the NJC secretary to be at par with the clerk to the National Assembly, while stating categorically that the chief justice is the head of the judiciary as an arm of government. The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) in pushing its agenda of affirmative action advocated for the empowerment of more women to be involved in politics, complaining that the political representation of women in Nigeria had steadily declined since 2007 without support and action from political leaders.
It, therefore, called for the creation of additional seats for women in the national and state assemblies. “We also ask for an Act to alter the provisions of the constitution to provide for gender equity in the executive committee of political parties. We also ask for an Act to alter the provisions of the constitution to provide gender diversity in appointing positions.
“CISLAC is also asking for an Act to alter the provisions of the constitution to exclude actions taken to promote gender equality in political and administrative offices from being considered discriminatory. Finally, we are also asking for an Act to further alter the provisions of the constitution to include gender diversity as a bench mark for federal character.
“Women are not only wives, mothers, and sisters. They have great passion and capacity to address social changes like poverty, access to healthcare and education. Women equal participation and leadership in politics is essential in achieving a sustainable developed country,” the CISLAC representative said.
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