Constitution review: How far with NASS ad hoc committee?

Osaretin Osadebamwen writes on the efforts of the ninth National Assembly to review of the 1999 Constitution, even as the exercise have been stalled by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

The ninth National Assembly has elected to undertake a review of the 1999 Constitution (as ammended) with a view to aligning its various provisions to contemporary political and economical concerns observed by Nigerians from all walks of life. As at the last count, there were over 40 bills seeking alteration of various sections of the constitution.

The ongoing effort of the Senator Ahmed Lawan-led Assembly will make it the fifth legislative attempt at reworking the constitution. Obviously, the task ahead is indeed a demanding one, given the condition spelt out for the proposed amendment of the constitution.

Lawan had called for patience from the people early upon his assumption of office as President of the Senate when he played host to the European Union Electoral Observation Mission (EU-EOM) in Nigeria. He gave an assurance then that the Assembly would ensure an early consideration of amendments to the constitution. “Give us a little bit more time so that we can give the kind of support that is required. The National Assembly has always supported the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and will continue to do so…,” he told the EU-EOM delegation.

The EU-EOM team, led by its Head of Delegation, Ketil Kerlsen and its deputy chief observer, Hannah Robert, visited the President of the Senate, last June and they had come prepared. After deliberations, they left Senator Lawan with some 30 recommendations for electoral amendment which required legal interventions, placing the ball in the court of the Senate.

The EU-EOM deputy chief observer said: “We have 30 recommendations for electoral reforms and we have identified seven priority recommendations. Our ultimate conclusion is that the process of comprehensive reform is needed in order to really strengthen the electoral process so that some of the problems that we saw in the past elections are not repeated in the future. Of these 30 recommendations, majority of them require legal reforms. Therefore, we look to the National Assembly to take the initiative of having an inclusive devotion to moving the recommendations forward.”

The head of delegation, Ketil Kelson, pointed out that, “We are not here to impose policies or to try to replicate what has worked in other countries but to listen very carefully to your visions and policies. EU has had observation missions here in every general election since 1999. We do not pretend that electoral processes are perfect around the world, but there is a lot that can be done. That is the spirit with which we are engaging today.”

Some eight months later, the Senate constituted a 57-man Constitution Review Committee (CRC) to engage with stakeholders, among which is the INEC, considered critical to the proposed amendments that would ensure more reliable electoral process and eventually lead to political stability. The committee is also expected to interface with other relevant agencies of government as well as Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

At the time of the preparation for the assignment, nobody had envisaged the coming of the deadly coronavirus pandemic which has continued to alter the balance of several things across the globe, including the important national task of constitutional review in the country.

Lawan, at the inauguration of the CRC, emphasised the fact that the assignment has its inherent challenges for the 57-man team. “This assignment needs a great deal of time, resources and expert ideas. This is so because constitutional reviews are not every day exercise. On the few occasions that it becomes necessary, we have the responsibility to ensure that inputs and outputs are not just exhaustive, but should also be wide ranging and effective,” he said.

The president of the Senate was also concerned about the integrity of the process and quality of the proposed amendments in addressing the desired changes envisaged far into the future so that it would be acceptable to all involved, given the tedious nature of the process where not less than two-third of the state Houses of Assembly will also need to endorse its passage.

Another major concern expressed by Lawan was for an all-encompassing law that would endure the test of time. Although over 40 bills are at various stages before the Senate, many would be sieved when the two chambers of the National Assembly meet for concurrence.

“When this process is foolproof, we can then rest assured that it will take a longer time before new realities possibly trigger demands for amendments. The Senate is mindful of the central role of the constitution as the groundnorm of our democracy. Though no constitution can be faultless, mostly because social dynamics are unpredictable, but a good review can increase its functionality and then decrease social agitations.”

Before the inauguration, Lawan addressed one of the concerns of stakeholders on early amendments of the process. He assured: “We will look at the lessons that we need to learn from the past elections because we are not able to address some of the issues particularly the wrong timing we had when the electoral amendment was sought. I am sure that this time around, we will try to start considering those issues that require urgent intervention ahead of future elections.” Lawan also sought the assistance of the EU, especially in the provision of technical support to the National Assembly upon commencement of the task. He noted that “some lawmakers are first timers and our committees are technical and will require some specialised competencies. I believe that there will be a need for the EU to look into how it can support the committees.”

The fact of the enormity of the task at hand was not lost on the chairman of the CRC and deputy president of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, as his thought was appropriately expressed when he addressed the Class of 1970 set as the Guest of Honour to the Nigerian Military School, Zaria 50th anniversary. He said, “We have begun work on this important national assignment. How far-reaching this will be depends on all of us.”

Senator Omo-Agege also took the opportunity to request for memoranda from the guests at the ceremony and members of the public when he said: “Soon, we will be having public hearings, as well as receiving memoranda. It is my hope that you will avail us your experience in this regard.”

He also spoke at the inaugural meeting with the committee member and the technical sub-committees, consisting of experienced lawyers and senators, urging them to feed the committee with their experience. Omo-Agege said: “This committee will consider the recommendations of the 2014 Constitutional Conference and the Governor Nasir el-Rufai-led committee on restructuring.

It would be recalled that the 2014 Confab was a bipartisan national conference set up by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration while the el-Rufai committee was an All Progressives Congress (APC) idea, set up to look at the issue of restructuring to promote national cohesion.

And many have consistently agitated that the report of the 2014 National Conference should be implemented on a lot of grounds. One of them is the broad spectrum of representation that cut across major stakeholders in the Nigerian Project. Coupled with this is the calibre of the delegates that participated in the conference. Another reason is the fact that virtually all the 600 recommendations contained in the final report of the conference were adopted through consensus. The general opinion is that many of the contentious issues that have held the country down over the years would have been sorted out if the recommendations had been implemented by the government via constitutional framework. Some of the issues include power rotation, devolution of powers, fiscal federalism, forms of government, citizenship, immunity clause, independent candidacy, creation of additional states to name a few.

Coincidentally, the report of the el-Rufai–led committee contained most of the recommendations of the 2014 Confab. There were agitations in many political circles when it became apparent that the APC-led federal administration was not enthusiastic about implementing the report. The issue of citizenship, resource control, state police, fiscal federalism and revenue allocation, local government autonomy, derivation principle, independent candidacy and judicial reforms were among other fundamental matters highlighted by the el-Rufai committee. Another panel tagged, the Constitution and Electoral Reform Committee, led by a former President of the Senate, Senator Ken Nnamani, underscored the need for restructuring as a way to reposition the country. The Nnamani-led ommittee recommended the establishment of a Political Parties and Electoral Offences Commission; establishment of a constituency delimitation centre, as well as independent candidacy for electoral offices.

The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), lauded the recommendations of the Nnamani committee, saying the draft bill it initiated would guide the Federal  Government in preparation of  proposals for the amendments of the Constitution for an improved electoral system in the country. “I am happy that the committee took time to draft bills that will impact on relevant provisions of the Constitution, the Electoral Act, Political Parties and Electoral Offences Commission and Constituency Delimitation Centre. All of you will recall that it is in furtherance of the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari towards an effective electoral process in Nigeria that he directed me to set up the Constitution and Electoral Reform Committee (CERC) in order to take a holistic look at the electoral environment and make recommendations on needed reforms,” the minister stated.

Still at the inaugural meeting of CRC, Omo-Agege said: “We would also liaise with our counterparts in the House of Representatives, the state Houses of Assembly and collaborate, build consensus with all stakeholders to ensure synergy. Our task would be to find a consensus through compromise in order to meet the ever-changing needs of our people.

“In doing this, the committee would, no doubt, consider the alteration of the Sixth Schedule to make provision for new items on establishment of National and state Houses of Assembly, pre-election matters tribunals. Others are governorship pre-election matters tribunals and presidential pre-election matters tribunal, including time limits for the disposal of all pre-election matters before the conduct of the general election. We will also consider the need for devolution of power, full local government fiscal autonomy and full autonomy of the judiciary in the area of administration of justice.”

The inauguration of the committee may have met the desire of stakeholders who clamoured for early take off of the project. However, the global pandemic that hit the country has slowed down everything.  Before the Senate went on the compulsory break imposed on the National Assembly by the coronavirus, 329 bills had been introduced by the senators and they were in various stages of consideration. Out of the 329 bills, over 40 of them are on constitutional alterations.

Following the outbreak of COVID-19, the Senate suspended all legislative duties, even at the levels of the various committees. This has brought to a halt all the machineries and processes put in place to accelerate the proposed constitutional amendment processes aimed at re-energising the nation’s enabling laws for a more cohesive and functional political and economic system.

 

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