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Members of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria with Governor of Oyo state, Seyi Makinde
By Akanji Alowolodu, Bauchi
Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria and Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Abubakar Y Suleiman has said that the State Houses of Assembly will kickstart process to ratify the resolution of the National Assembly on the proposed amendment of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In a goodwill message he delivered during the opening ceremony of the First Quarter General Meeting of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria in Ibadan, Oyo State Capital on Saturday, the Chairman explained that the National Assembly having carried out its constitutionally assigned role on the exercise, has transmitted its resolution to the State Houses of Assembly for further legislative actions.
According to him, they convened the meeting to further look into the Bills on the proposed amendments to the Constitution with a view to ultimately guiding the participants on their final legislative role to ratify the resolution of the National Assembly.
“We share in the goals and objectives of the exercise. We believe it is one of the ways to address many agitated issues in our country.” He said.
On state of the nation, the Chairman said that the Conference of Speakers acknowledges the disturbing dimension the insecurity in the country today has assumed, which has constituted a serious threat not only to the economic growth and development but also to the peace and unity of the nation.
He therefore advocated that all hands must be on deck to fight insecurity for the good of the nation.
Abubakar Suleiman also commended the Executive Governor of Oyo State for executing various developmental projects in the State which he attributed to harmonious working relationship between the executive and legislative arms in the State.
In his welcome address, the Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly, Adebo Edward Ogundoyin said that the meeting will afford the Speakers ample opportunity to discuss, garner more knowledge and x-ray emerging issues from the alterations of the Constitution as they relate to them as State legislatures.
According to him, “My joy is boundless because the Nigerian Legislature is poised to play its part in bringing to fruition the agitations of millions of Nigerians on the need for alterations to the 1999 Constitution Of the Federal Republic Of Nigeria” .
The Oyo state Speaker added that, “Let me state here that there has always been a consistent and steady clamour for an amendment and a review of several sections of the Constitution as currently being used in Nigeria” .
He added that, “To some, the amendments should be total i.e reviewing the whole Constitution while to others it should be taken piecemeal. Whatever the nature of the agitations, the purpose and aim of every Constitutional amendment is virtually the same across the world.”.
While delivering a keynote address, the Governor of Oyo State, Engr. Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde appreciated the State Legislatures for the role they are playing in ensuring that true democracy continues to evolve in Nigeria and the work they did in ensuring that they delivered the new Electoral Act 2022 to Nigerians which he said it is clearly a step in the right direction.
The Governor noted that Constitutional debates are a big part of an evolving democracy, thus, looking at the various agitations that have rocked the nation over the years, including the more recent End SARS protests and the rise of banditry and terrorism, the Legislature should pay closer attention to some of the neglected conversations around constitutional amendments and reforms.
Seyi Makinde said that, “We don’t have to wait to be forced to take action. Actions that are taken under pressure and without due consultation often fail to accomplish desired objectives. And so, it is high time the twin issues of resource control and state police are subjected to robust debate at the Legislature”.
According to him, “I believe that any assembly that puts those two issues up for rigorous debate and gives Nigerians a fair deal on all counts will go down in history as the best assembly ever. If you read the pulse of the nation, you will see that everyone is tired of the status quo, and they are ready for new vistas”.
The Governor added that, “Nigerians are demanding that their Governors play the role of Chief Security Officers of their States. They are asking that the Governors be empowered to run the security architecture of their states” . “Here in the south-West, the Governors came together to create an alternative that would support the efforts of the federal security agencies through the Western Nigeria Security Network”, he revealed.
He also said that, “The people can see for themselves how things are working out. The Amotekun Corps has brought relief to them. The spate of kidnappings and clashes among farmers and herders has drastically reduced” .
“Our rural farmers are returning to their farms knowing that they have an added layer of protection. They can see that the benefits of state police far outweigh any fears that they might have had”, the Governor added.
He further said that, “Having seen the success recorded by the Amotekun Corps in a little over a year of operations here in Oyo State, we took a step to strengthen them further. We are recruiting 500 more members”
The Governor revealed that, “we started with 1,500 corps members. I must say this is by far the largest number in any state in the southwest. Just yesterday, we supplied them with an additional 100 operational vehicles” .
He further said that, “The people are happy about this because they can see the work that Amotekun is doing. So, there is no better time than now to discuss state police. We have a similar situation with resource control” .
“There is an ongoing national conversation about equity and fairness. We have seen the press release figures that show that it is just a few states that are contributing to the Value Added Tax, which everyone is sharing”, he added.
“We have long talked about the states that are producing the oil that we all are sharing proceeds from. Everyone has seen how some states do not even make an effort to raise their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) because they are comfortable with receiving federal allocations from work done by others”, he said .
Seyi Makinde concluded But now that the receipts are dwindling, even those states are waking up to the conversation and asking if they can keep what they make. Can there be a better time to discuss resource control?Constitutional amendments are a must.”
The Conference of Speakers assured Nigerians that security situation in the country will improve with the new action announced by the President, Muhammadu Buhari as contained in a statement by Abdul Ahmad BurraSpokesperson to the Speaker, Bauchi State House of Assembly.
