•Restructuring of security architecture, bi-camera legislature, revenue formula on agenda
•Moved from May 27, 28 to June 11, 12
More details are beginning to emerge on specifics that may dominate debate at the all-inclusive political summit being put together under the leader of The Patriots and former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emerita Anyaoku, to fashion a workable constitutional framework for the country.
A draft proposal for discussion gleaned by the Nigerian Tribune at the weekend showed that no fewer than 34 critical items therein, barring any major adjustments subject to the final approval by the organisers. The items cover fundamental restructuring in all the layers and arms of government, as well as the security services cum architecture.
Nigerian Tribune reliably gathered that a new date has been proposed for the summit due to the 26th anniversary of Nigeria’s return to civil rule on May 29.
The summit, according to the sources, has been shifted from May 27–28 to June 11 and 12 in Abuja.
Among the other issues listed in the proposal are: provision for judicial adjudication of corruption and betrayal of trust matters, remunerations of members of the National Assembly, remunerations and compensations in the public service, electoral system, political party structures, revenue management format, security architecture, and fiscal arrangement.
Management of resources and revenue, concurrent functional responsibilities, regional border changes and disputes, as well as equal rights among federating regions, basis of state government, status of the federal capital territory (FCT), federal Executive Council, powers and functions of the President, restructuring of states based ethnic homogeneity and other items are contained in the document.
Tagged: “Issues to be presented by the Secretariat for Consideration and Ratification by the Summit, the document observed that the “2025 Summit of The Patriots affords a veritable opportunity to canvass topical issues that are prepared in advance for consideration and concurrence by delegates before departure. As many issues as are presented and accepted will serve as the basis for post-Summit advocacy and demand of action by the National Assembly.”
It noted that the 2014 National Conference was a major dialogue convened by then President Goodluck Jonathan to address critical national challenges and propose reforms, noting that, “While the conference covered a wide range of topics (e.g., governance, security, economy, and social cohesion), the principal recommendation centered on managing the subsisting 1999 Constitution and its behemoth stipulations, regarding which there is a consensus about its multifarious inadequacies.”
Two of the most striking items listed in the proposal are the setting up of a technical panel to facilitate constitutional reforms, as well as the process for the enactment of a new constitution that would be widely accepted by Nigerians.
The proposed technical panel, which is number 32 on the list of the items reads: “There shall be a Technical Panel to Facilitate Constitutional Reforms in Nigeria (TPF-CRN). The body shall be set up by the President.
“The panel will facilitate the processes towards the drafting of the Regional and then the Federal Constitutions by the people of Nigeria.
“The TPFCR shall undertake the following functions: Facilitate all processes and activities towards the enactment of a new Governance Framework for Nigeria
•Provide information and advice only that will facilitate the activities of the linguistic/ethnic nationalities, sub-nationalities as they interact and consult voluntarily towards that fashioning out of cooperative and collaborative frameworks.
•Sensitize and guide voluntary aggregation of the peoples identified in (b) above into viable socio-economic and political units, primarily based on contiguity of land territory, local resource control and self-management of governance affairs.
•Provide secretarial support to the accredited representatives of the linguistic/ethnic nationalities, sub-nationalities in their respective quests to aggregate and or disaggregate to form new regions.
•Provide advisory support to the emerging leaders of political units based on (d) to enable them work out understandings and frameworks for local governance, such as would be embodied in their articles of associations: A respective Regional Constitutions.
•Facilitate the organisation and hosting of the Convention of the bona-fide representatives of the emerged regions, being outcomes of (e) above, with the purpose of articulating the form and content of a new framework for federal governance.”
The document stated that the framework for governance shall be presented for ratification and enactment into a new Constitution for the Federation of Nigerian Nations (FNN), stressing that the “outcome shall not be abridged or tampered with in whatever form.”
It also suggested that the National Assembly shall facilitate a new federal constitution within six calendar months.
“The National Assembly shall transmit the enactment to the respective State Assemblies for passage with a simple majority vote.
“On ratification by a simple majority number of state assemblies, the new federal constitution for Nigeria shall be voted upon by all Nigerians of voting age. With a simple majority vote, the New Constitution shall be deemed to have been passed by the People of Nigeria,” it emphasised.
It noted that Nigeria was nowhere near the complexity of the Indian nation that has endured since 1947, stressing that, “If we are truly serious about solving the problem of the Nigerian question, we no longer need to view the fact of our 371 ethnic nationalities as an albatross on our quest for development. We must confront it frontally.”
Reaffirming the ethnic heterogeneity of the country, the document states: “Nigeria should be considered for operation as a 10 state-polity with as many federal territories constituted to give identity to every of the 360 residual ethnic nationalities.
“We have far less than the 2,000 ethnic nationalities of India to contend with.
“The implicit profligacy of 109 senators, 360 honourable members, 36 executive governments, 36 state assemblies, and 774 local governments bears no restarting to emphasise that the political class is merely self-serving at the expense of citizens. Nigeria is unlikely to fare well any much longer.”
TRIBUNE
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