No Nigerian Can Influence Us -Rep

The representative of Agege Federal Constituency of Lagos state, Southwest Nigeria in the House of Representatives, Dr. Samuel Babatunde Adejare, has assured that the House would not be influenced in the course of reviewing the constitution.

The federal lawmaker stated this during a public hearing on the review of the country’s constitution on Saturday at the Women’s Development Centre, Agege. He warned all those who think they could influence the decision of the House, especially during the collation of suggestions and memoranda from the citizens of the country to have a rethink because the House of Representatives is more concerned with posterity.

“The outcome of this exercise is going to be a new version of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.

Dr. Adejare also said the exercise was a semblance of a referendum and this is cheaper than a full referendum.

“Our Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, said the case of all those clamouring for referendum would be looked into. I would not want to pre-empt what we would do collectively.

“I don’t also think there are forces or that any force would influence us in how we go about the outcome of this exercise.

“What we are doing is open to all and the people have contributed and they will see their inputs in whatever comes out of the exercise in the country.

“I assure you that what we got here today and what others have said throughout the country is what you would see in the constitution at the end.

“We still have a long way to go but no matter how tedious the process is, we are definitely coming out with something reflecting the decisions of the people,” he stressed.

Dousing the fears that the review may just be an exercise in futility, he said though the 1999 Constitution had been previously revised in the past with little satisfaction, the current review is aimed at placing Nigeria on a solid foundation for the future.

“We are making our efforts to ensure the constitution is a collective decision of the people,” he said.

—Eromosele Ebhomele