25th January, 2018
A Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Friends of Democracy, on Thursday in Abuja said 34 states were yet to conclude input into the Constitution amendment process.
One of the conveners of the group, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora, made this know in a news briefing in Abuja.
He said that only House of Assembly in Benue and Cross Rivers had concluded and transmitted their inputs to the National Assembly joint committee on amendment of the Constitution.
Mamora said that the group went round the 36 states to engage the houses of assembly and governors to take the amendment further to fruition.
“Having gone round the various geo-political zones, we decided to have this gathering to move the process further by educating stakeholders on the need to expedite action on passing it.
“So, we are trying to engage in advocacy so that the resources expended on this exercise in terms of funds, brains and so on will be such that achieve the goal.
“This is because democracy is a continuous process and we have to keep changing to refine, taking into cognisance, desires of the people.
Mamora appealed to governors, state houses of assembly and CSOs to help in expediting the process of amending the Constitution by the National Assembly to bring it to the final stage.
In his contribution, a Consultant to the organisation, Mr Sulieman Gora, said that passage of the Constitution amendment was long overdue.
Gora said that since 1999 the nation had not had a concluded Constitution amendment, adding that with the 8th National Assembly still grappling with the process, about 18 years had been put in the exercise.
He said, “if you look at the resources that have been committed into this process in the last 18 years, it ought to have been concluded.
READ: Benue Assembly calls for support for state police
“The National Assembly after every election year begins a new process of constitution amendment that never got passed until the end of its tenure.
“We have challenges in this and the only way to get it solved is by making sure that we have these amendments that will strengthen government institutions in the country.
“We are worried as friends of democracy about the kind of recourses we have wasted on one single process for 18 years; it is money that runs into millions.’’
Gora said that the group was looking at how it could reach out to elected executives and legislators to also sensitise Nigerians to ensure that efforts of 18 years came to fruition.
He added that very soon Nigeria would go into election and considering the recourses spent, it would be unprofitable for the 9th Assembly to start the process again.
Another member of the organisation, Dr Adiya Ode, said that the legislature held a very important power in amending the Constitution, adding that the bulk of the document was on their tables.
Ode urged them to expedite action to enable the process to be concluded.
“We are not asking for what is too strange because two states have already passed the amendment; we salute those states and we call on other state houses of assembly to do the right thing for the people.’’