Demand for creation of additional states and local government areas, state police and the devolution of powers to the federating units formed major demands by critical stakeholders at the ongoing constitution review zonal hearing organised by the House of Representatives.
Other demands by the stakeholders include removal of the immunity clause in the 1999 constitution, constitutional role for traditional rulers and fiscal federalism.
Speaking at the Bauchi zonal public hearing comprising Bauchi, Yobe and Borno States on Tuesday, the state governor, Bala Mohammed called for the creation of Katagum State and more local government areas out of present Bauchi State.
Mohammed also said Bauchi State was in full support of the current federal arrangement comprising federal, states and local governments and the arrangement should be maintained in the constitution.
“Power is currently concentrated at the centre to the detriment of states and local governments. The constitution should, therefore, be altered to devolve more power to these two tiers with a concomitant review of revenue allocation formula so as to make more funds available to state and local governments to discharge the additional responsibilities devolved to them.
“The constitution should be amended to allow for the establishment of state police. Since the states are an autonomous tier with executive, legislative and judicial arms, they should have agencies to execute powers vested in them by the constitution in the areas of enforcement. Hence the need for state police to do this. Under the present arrangement, governors do not have absolute power to direct Commissioners of Police in their states.
At the Kebbi zonal hearing made up of Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States, the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar called for the removal of the immunity clause in the Nigerian constitution to compel Nigerian leaders to live up to their responsibilities.
The Sultan also demanded constitutional role for traditional rulers, blaming the present crisis in the country on the relegation of the traditional rulers to the background without a constitutional role.
According to him: “One of the controversial issues which I feel strongly about is the immunity clause. When you are immune, nobody can take you to court as a leader and it means that you can do whatever you want to do. You can claim to be God.
“But when that immunity is removed and you are made to live in a society where people are taken to court for abuse of office, I think our leaders here will wake up. Let us see how to tinker with that immunity clause”.
While declaring the Lagos public hearing, which covered Lagos, Oyo and Ogun States, speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila said the 1999 constitution has failed to address some critical national issues confronting the country hence the resolve by the legislature to amend it.
Gbajabiamila noted that a nation’s constitution is not only the foundation of its existence but is supposed to set the terms of the nationhood and define the manner that reflects her common truths and highest aspirations, stressing that “Our constitution falls short of this standard.”
The speaker said the reason for that was “because the 1999 constitution is the product of a hurried national compromise that we entered into two decades ago in order to ensure that the military returned to the barracks and that we returned to democratic government.”
“All of us in the House of Representatives will work conscientiously and in good faith so that it may be said of us in this process that we made an audacious attempt at creating for our nation a constitution that recognises our diversity and draws strength from it, and addresses once and for all, the fault lines that distract from nation-building”.
Governor Sanwo-Olu, represented by his deputy, Hamzat, said the need for a special status for Lagos State in the constitution could not be overemphasised.
The governor said being the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria, whatever affects the state has the capacity to affect the entire country, hence the need for a special status.
He also urged members of the National Assembly to prioritise fiscal federalism, local government autonomy, in addition to state police in the ongoing review process.
