Constitution amendment: Senate gets 56 fresh requests for state creation

Written by Taiwo Adisa, Abuja, with Agency Report Monday, 23 July 2012

 

AS the National Assembly continues its efforts to amend the critical areas of the 1999 Constitution, it has emerged the no fewer than 56 requests for state creation have been submitted to the Senate Committee on Constitution Review.
The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who disclosed the new figure at the just-concluded Senate retreat on constitution amendment in Asaba, Delta State, said the number rose from 46 requests initially received at the end of 2011 to 56.
He said the current exercise aimed at amending the constitution could not shy away from the critical areas of the constitution, including  local government reforms, state creation, removal of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and Code of Conduct Acts from the constitution, as well as Mayoralty status for Abuja.
It has, however, emerged that the National Assembly and the governors have sharply disagreed on the status of local governments that should be retained in the constitution.
Ekweremadu also submitted that the new constitution should be ready by July 2013.
While the Senate craves autonomy for local governments, to allow the councils to start receiving their due of the federation account directly, the governors are of the view that local governments cannot be regarded as federating units and, therefore, should remain tied to the apron strings of the states.
Delta State governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, who spoke to select newsmen in Asaba, at the end of the retreat, said governors were of the view that states should continue to maintain  control over local governments.
He said what would be acceptable to the governors would be to either delete the names of all local governments from the constitution or retain the joint state and local government account.
His Rivers State counterpart, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, also said local government areas could not be treated as federating units.
He said Nigeria was the only federation where people talked of granting recognition to local governments as federating units.
Ameachi, who is also the chairman of Nigerian Governors’ Forum, said the forum was opposed to what was being proposed as local government autonomy.
Politicians back NASS on delineation of constituencies
In another development, some politicians, on Sunday, supported the call by the House of Representatives that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should delineate federal constituencies and senatorial districts.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Nigeria had 360 federal constituencies and 109 senatorial districts.
Section 73 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) empowers INEC to delineate constituencies every 10 years.
Some of the politicians told NAN in separate interviews that the delineation would promote unity, equity and justice, as well as develop the country’s democracy.
The Lagos State chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Chief Balogun Emi-Abatta, urged the INEC to reduce the number of representatives in less populated states.
He said it was unfair for states with high population to have the same number of senators as states with low population.
“Where you have more population, you can’t compare the number of people you have there to where you don’t have a large population,” he said.
Mr Unimke Nawa, a chieftain of the Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA), said the review was lawful, adding that “the number of representatives should be proportionate to the population of the place.”
He, however, noted that such a review could demand a fresh population census, “except we are going to use a pre-dated population figure.”
Mr Sunny Moniedafe of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) told NAN that there were many constituencies and districts not properly delineated.

SOURCE: Nigerian Tribune, 23 July 2012.  http://tribune.com.ng/