- Safiu Kehinde
The House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review has disclosed plan of intense stakeholders’ engagement in the ongoing Constitution amendment process.
The Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Benjamin Kalu made the this known on Tuesday in Abuja.
As highlighted by Kalu, the stakeholders to be engaged in the review process include the Nigerian Governors Forum, Nigeria Guild of Editors, Conference of Speakers of State Legislature, Chairmen of the 18 Political Parties, Civil Society Organisations, amongst others.
The deputy speaker said that the committee will hold an international legislative dialogue on women on Oct. 28 and zonal public hearings in January.
“A clear actionable recommendations from the women summit holding next week will be taken forward in the constitutional alteration exercise.
“The summit will help in building of political will and eliciting of commitments from political leaders and stakeholders,” he said.
Kalu assured that the committee is on track to deliver to Nigerians, a new Constitution by December, 2025.
According to him, the essence of the engagements is to get the input of various stakeholders and brief them on what the committee is doing.
The chairman said that the committee will be broken down into subcommittees to ensure smooth and articulate implementation.
According to reports, five constitutional alterations took place in 2018 birthing the third Amendment (2018), which addressed various issues, including the administration of justice and the financial autonomy of local governments.
Prior to that, the second Amendment (2011) had focused on issues related to local government elections and the establishment of the National Assembly.
Meanwhile, the fourth Amendment (2022) introduced changes aimed at improving the electoral process and enhancing the independence of the judiciary.