EKWEREMADU: RESTRUCTURING MUST BE DONE INCREMENTALLY, NOT JUST ABOUT RESOURCE CONTROL

money than even Akwa Ibom if they have restructuring in such a way that solid minerals now moves to the Concurrent List.

“A lot of states in the Northwest are blessed with gold which is what is sustaining most economies in Central Africa.

“Also, if people are in control of their resources and are able to pay taxes, there would be more competition. Now everybody is falling back on oil, and we have become lazy.

“A country like Norway is not touching its oil money, they are saving it in what they call the generation equity fund (equivalent of a Sovereign Wealth Fund), Saudi Arabia invests its money and is using the return on the investments in infrastructure and development,” the deputy senate president said.

Constitution Review

Meanwhile, the National Assembly would today begin the clause-by-clause consideration of the proposed amendments to the 1999 Constitution, following the submission of the final report of the Adhoc Committee on Constitution Review last week.

The Chairman of the Joint Constitution Amendment Committee, Senator Ekweremadu and Deputy Chairman, Deputy Speaker Yusuff Suleiman Lasun had presented the reports at their respective plenary sessions.

THISDAY gathered that the lawmakers plan to conclude the consideration before they embarking on their six-week summer recess expected to start on Friday.

A member of the committee, who spoke with THISDAY, said the lawmakers in both chambers were determined to conclude the consideration this week and transmit the approved amendments to the state assemblies.

The senator, who preferred not to be named, said the committee was not expecting much opposition to most of the amendments from the state assemblies, as the principal officers from the state assemblies were part of the whole review process.

“They were with us when we had retreats and also at the House level. They were also with us when we harmonised our reports in Lagos two weeks ago. So they know what to expect.

“So by the time we resume in September, they would also be done. We expect to conclude this assignment by the end of this year,” he said.

Key areas of consideration in the Constitution Amendment Report, which includes 27 different bills, are a bill to decongest the Exclusive Legislative List by transferring certain items contained therein to the Concurrent List, thereby enabling the states to make laws in respect of those items; a bill to alter the constitution to abrogate the joint state, local government accounts and empower each local government council to maintain its own special account; and a bill to provide the Independent National Electoral Commission with sufficient time to conduct byeelections and provide grounds for de-registration of the political parties.

Others are a bill that is seeking to alter the constitution to provide for the timely passage of bills; a bill that seeks to alter the constitution to provide a timeframe within which the president and governors shall forward to the Senate or the state Houses of Assembly names of nominees for confirmation as ministers or commissioners; and a bill to alter Section 147 of the constitution to provide for the appointment of a minister from the FCT, Abuja, to ensure that FCT is represented in the Executive Council of the Federation.

Another amendment includes one that seeks to bar a vicepresident or deputy governor who has been sworn-in to complete the tenure of a president or governor by reason of incapacitation, death or impeachment, from seeking a second term, after he might have completed the term of his predecessor and a first term in office.

The review committee also amended the constitution to provide immunity for members of the legislature in respect of words spoken or written at plenary sessions or committee proceedings and to institutionalise legislative bureaucracy; it also seeks to grant financial autonomy to the state Houses of Assembly by ensuring that their funding comes from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Federation; it further reduced the period within which the president or the governor of a state might authorise the withdrawal of money from the CRF in the absence of an Appropriation Act from six months to three months, in order to hasten the budget process.

Senate President Bukola Saraki, in a statement yesterday described the constitution review process as another promise kept by the eighth assembly.

“You will recall that when we first came into office, I made a promise that we will amend the constitution to reflect new realities that have arisen. Now, we are doing just that.

“With just under two years left to spare in this tenure, we are wrapping up this process, which will then be transmitted to the state assemblies for concurrence,” he said.

He added: “We will continue to ensure that all the promises that we have made to the Nigerian people will be kept. It is also our hope that we can get this amendment sent to the state assemblies quickly so that the new amendments can take effect by the new year and well clear of the political electioneering season.

“This is the first time ever that we are concluding the constitution amendment process long before the election year so that people can objectively participate in the process without looking at the partisan benefits.”

In the House, the deputy speaker also said that the lower legislative chamber would deliberate on the Constitution Amendment Report.

Addressing journalists on the 16th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC), which opens today at the ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja, Lasun, however, assured that normal plenary proceedings would not be impeded during the four-day programme.

“Effective today, the House plenary sessions will have to be adjusted to commence after mid-day,” he said.

Lasun, who is the deputy chairman of the ad-hoc Committee on the Constitution Amendment said he cannot afford to be absent during consideration and voting on the amendment, hence the adjustment of the House’s plenary.

The deputy speaker said 10 out of the 12 speakers of the Commonwealth member countries were already in the country for the speakers’ conference.

House Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara is the chairperson of CSPOC, having been elected in Accra, Ghana in November 2015 when the 15th conference approved the National Assembly or Nigeria as the host of the 16th edition.

CSPOC is a bi-annual conference, which brings together speakers and presiding officers of global parliaments, to exchange information and express views on matters of common concern.

This year’s speakers’ conference will be opened by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.

Lasun also stated that the House would between tomorrow and Thursday consider the N135.64 billion virement request submitted by Osinbajo last week.

Osinbajo, in his letter to the parliament, had made reference to the initial agreement between the executive and the legislature prior to the signing of the 2017 Appropriation Act regarding some critical priority items for which adequate provisions had not been made.

The agreement paved the way for the executive to submit a virement proposal to the National Assembly for consideration.

The House is expected to consider the request and either approve it in whole or make amendments.