The Senate Committee in charge of reviewing the 1999 Constitution has announced it will hold public hearings across Nigeria’s six geo-political zones from July 4 to July 5.
This announcement was made on Sunday by the committee chairman and Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin. He spoke through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ismail Mudashir, in Abuja.
According to the statement, the hearings will happen at the same time in Lagos, Enugu, Ikot Ekpene, Jos, Maiduguri, and Kano. The aim is to allow citizens across the country to give their opinions on several changes being considered for the Nigerian Constitution.
Senator Barau explained that the committee is reviewing key national issues that affect the lives of Nigerians. These include efforts to give more power to local governments, changes in how elections are conducted, and proposals to improve the court system.
There are also discussions around whether states should be allowed to have their own police, and how governance can be made more inclusive.Among the proposals is a bill that seeks to give full independence to local government councils.
Another bill suggests creating a separate national body to handle local government elections across the country.The committee will also look into matters of national security. There are plans to examine how internal security can be better managed through state-level structures.
Fiscal reforms are also on the table, including a proposal to give stronger powers to the body that oversees how federal money is shared and used.
Barau said the committee is also looking at making sure governors and the president present their budgets within a set time. Women’s participation in politics is another important focus, with a bill aimed at creating more seats for women in legislative houses.Traditional institutions have not been left out either.
A bill has been proposed to officially recognize national, state, and local councils for traditional rulers. There’s also a move to allow independent candidates to contest in elections without belonging to a political party.
According to the senator, the committee will review many bills aimed at improving the performance of the judiciary. These include proposals to set time limits for delivering court judgments and making election tribunals more efficient. Some lawmakers are also pushing for certain topics, like labour and shipping, to be handled by both the federal and state governments, not just the federal level.
Barau also revealed that the committee has received 31 requests from different parts of the country for the creation of new states. He noted that these requests have come from all six zones, with the highest number coming from the North-East.The Deputy Senate President encouraged Nigerians to take the opportunity to attend the hearings and make their voices heard, stressing that the committee’s work depends on the people’s input.
