THE Committee on Constitution Review, headed by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has recommended the abolition of the joint State and Local Government Accounts provided for in the 1999 Constititon.
The committee, in an interim report submitted to the Senate on Thursday, recommended direct funding of the local governments, while also providing that local governments without democratically-elected councils should not be entitled to federal allocations.
Ekweremadu, in his presentation at Thursday’s plenary, said the abolition of the state/local governments joint account was a key aspect of the ongoing amendment.
He said the full report would be ready early 2017, after the ongoing harmonisation with the review committee of the House of Representatives.
Senator Ekweremadu also said that the constitution review committee adopted the recommendation, which seeks to create a mayoral status for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The mayor would take over the roles of the FCT minister and administer the territory as if it were a state.
The committee, which was inaugurated on January 13, 2016, is processing some aspects of the Fourth Alteration Bill of 2015, which had secured national concensus.
The 2015 alteration Bill was rejected, following the refusal of former President Goodluck Jonathan to assent to the bill, after its passage by two thirds of the houses of Assembly.
Ekweremadu told the Senate that the committee recommended that Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution be amended, to provide for a uniform three-year tenure for elected local government council officials.
“Local Government without a democratically elected council shall not be entitled to any revenue from the Federation Account,” the report read.
He also said that the committee was of the belief that the amendments would ensure effective service delivery and insulate local governments from undue and counter-productive interferences from states.
While speaking on amendments to sections on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, Senator Ekweremadu said the committee recommended that a provision be made for national savings of 50 per cent of oil revenues above the bench mark for a particular year and 10 per cent of any non-oil revenue paid into the Federation Account.
The committee also recommended amendments to Sections 82 and 122 of the constitution to reduce the period within which the president or a governor may authorise the withdrawal of monies from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, where a budget had not been passed from six months to three months.
“Essentially, this will compel early presentation of budget proposal by the executive arm of government, thereby giving the legislature sufficient time to scrutinise such proposal,” Ekweremadu noted.
He also reported that the committee recommended amendments to sections 134 (4) & (5), 179 (4) & (5) and 225 to extend the time for conducting rerun for presidential and governorship elections, where no clear winner emerged from seven to 21 days, to give Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) sufficient time for planning.
The committee is also seeking to empower the INEC to de-register political parties which fail to meet certain conditions such as breach of registration requirements and failure to secure or win any of the presidential, governorship, local government chairmanship or a seat in the National or state assembly elections.
The committee is also seeking amendments to Section 121 of the constitution to guarantee a first line charge of funding for state houses of assembly, as a way of securing their autonomy from state governors.
By seeking amendments to sections 256, 299, 300, 301 and 302 of the 1999 Constitution, the committee is seeking the creation of the office of a mayor for the FCT, with powers to administer the FCT as if it were a state of the federation.
The committee is also seeking amendment to sections 147 and 192 of the constitution to ensure that the president and governors attach portfolios to persons nominated as ministers or commissioners, prior to confirmation by the Senate or state House of Assembly.
The committee equally prescribes that such offices must be filled within a period of 60 days and that 35 per cent of the representation should be set aside for women.
The proposed amendments also provided for the president to attend a joint meeting of the National Assembly once a year, to deliver a “State of the Nation” address.
The amendments also removed what is seen as the lawmaking power of the executive arm of government under Section 315 of the constitution, declaring that the provision was contrary to Section 4 of the Constitution, which confers law-making powers exclusively on the legislature.
The committee also tinkered with sections 233, 237, 247, 251 and Part I of the Third Schedule of the Constitution to Provide for all appeals from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court to be by leave of the Supreme Court, except in the case of Interpretation of the constitution, death sentences and fundamental human rights.
It further proposed that two justices of the Court of Appeal sitting in chambers can dispose any application for leave to appeal after considering the records of proceedings, if the justices believe the interest of justice does not require an oral hearing of the application.
The committee also resolved to establish a criminal division of the Federal High Court to try electoral offences, terrorism cases, economic and financial crimes cases, as well as provide for appeals from the decisions of the National Industrial Court to the Court of Appeal.
The amendment also puts the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) under the control of the judiciary, instead of the executive.
Second Schedule, Part I and II of the Constitution were altered to decongest the exclusive legislative list to give more powers to states. This, according to Senator Ekweremadu, would enhance the principle of federalism and good governance.