The House of Representatives has set December 2025 as the deadline for the conclusion of the ongoing amendment of the 1999 Constitution.
The Deputy Speaker, Ben Kalu, who is also the Chairman of the House Constitution Review Committee, stated this on Wednesday at the inaugural meeting of the committee.
Mr Kalu said the committee currently has about 40 bills seeking to amend the constitution, noting that it has a deadline of December 2025.
“It is 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, the time we are looking at to conclude the activities of this committee.
It is not out of place to guess that there is some level of fatigue in the amendment process by some vocal sections of the populace. Whatever opinion you hold, it is important to let you 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 challenges 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 government to ensure the security and welfare of the citizen as provided by the constitution,” he said.
On the last alteration, Mr Kalu said some bills, notably the gender bills, failed because lawmakers did not understand the bills and their implications.
“In the last constitution review efforts, there were some key constitution amendment proposals that did not pass either because we did not fully understand their provisions or we did not have enough time to agree on them. An example was the proposal to create additional seats for women in Federal and State Legislative Houses.
“Let us use this opportunity to understand this proposal, hoping that those who are the promoters of this particular amendment will start their advocacy timely and be more thorough and comprehensive, reaching the stakeholders to control the mindsets of their representatives,” he said.
He pledged the provision of adequate resources to enable the committee to deliver on its mandate.
“The secretariat will be very well equipped to function optimally and deliver results. We have created a partnership with Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre who has committed to supporting the work of this committee as they have done in previous constitution review efforts,” he said.
The 37-member committee is made up of representatives of the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
