•House of Reps
House of Representarives has set December 2025 as deadline for the completion of the alteration of the 1999 Constitution ( as amended).
The deputy speaker, Benjamin Kalu, who stated this, yesterday, at the inaugural meeting of the House Special Committee on Constitution Review, said this is to ensure that the exercise does conflict with the next general elections, reports Daily Sun.
Kalu explained that the nature of the 1999 Constitution has made it imperative for a continued review of the document, as well as work towards achieving consensus on outstanding constitutional debates.
The deputy chairman, who is also chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, stated that the current effort to alter the constitution is the sixth time the National Assembly would be embarking on the exercise.
“It is also the view of Mr. Speaker that we set a realistic timeline that does not conflict with electoral activities which would advertently or inadvertently affect the alteration process. Specifically, December, 2025 is the time we are looking at to conclude the activities of this committee.
“It is not out of place to guess that there are some levels of fatigue in the amendment process by some vocal sections of the populace. Whatever opinion you hold, it is important to know that we presently have 40 bills that are at various stages of consideration which relate to the alteration of the constitution.
“We are well aware of our present challenging circumstances as a nation. The twin challenge of insecurity and economic difficulties could tamper with the confidence of our citizens. It is, therefore, our constitutional responsibility to respond to the 40 bills so far proposed, and also attend to the duty of the government to ensure the security and welfare of the citizen as provided by the Constitution,” he stated.
Furthermore, Kalu said: “Since 2010, the National Assembly has successfully amended and made landmark changes to our Constitution since it was first handed over to Nigeria in 1999 by the military regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar.
“Since then, some of the significant amendments successfully made by previous efforts include judicial reforms, electoral reforms, age reduction, allowing younger persons to be appointed into the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as Chairman or Resident Electoral Commissioners, and also allowing a lower age for contest into certain elective positions, moving certain responsibilities of government from the Exclusive Legislative List into the Concurrent Legislative List to allow for increased federalism among other things.”
The deputy speaker recalled that in the last constitution review exercise, some proposals did not scale through because lawmakers either did not fully understand them or there was no sufficient reason to reach agreement on them.
Kalu stated that one of such proposals was the bill to create special seats for women in the national and state assemblies. Consequently, he urged lawmakers to use the current exercise to understand the proposal.
