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Finally, it seems that the plan to
amend the 1999 Constitution has gone past the point of no return. It is
heartwarming to note that the National Assembly has actually done some
real work – the journey up to this stage has involved both chambers
sweating out the finer details of the review, and carrying out series
of harmonisation sessions to iron out several differences between the
versions they arrived at. Now there is a harmonized draft version,
which the Senate adopted last week. What is left now is for all the 36
State Houses of Assembly to formally ratify the revised constitution.

Nigerians have some reason to rejoice.
Senate President David Mark described the day the Senate approved the
revised draft as “historic”, noting that it was “the first time the
Senate would cross this point in the attempt to alter the 1999
Constitution.

Indeed this is not the first time there
has been an attempt to review the 1999 Constitution. In 2005, during
the Obasanjo administration, there was a short-lived constitution
review move. The failure of this is traceable to Obasanjo’s last-minute
move to introduce a clause that would have allowed him to rule longer
than two terms. So the fact that the process has now got to a point
where there is a single draft version, which has been adopted by the
two chambers of the National Assembly, is nothing but good news.

Some of the revisions in the proposed
constitution are truly groundbreaking. A good example is the move to
free the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Judiciary
and National Assembly from subservience to the executive arm of
government, in terms of funding. Under the current Constitution these
bodies depended on the executive for their running costs, making a huge
joke of their supposed autonomy. Under the proposed draft review
constitution however, their funding is to come directly from the
country’s Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), making them no longer
directly dependent on the executive.

The ambiguous, loophole-ridden Section
145, which was at the centre of the six-month constitutional crisis
that rocked the country,

recently, has also undergone revision.
The revised constitution compels the President to transmit a written
declaration when “proceeding on vacation or is otherwise unable to
discharge the functions of his office” and gives him 21 days to do so.
When that 21-day period expires, the revised draft constitution expects
the National Assembly to “by a resolution made by a simple majority of
the vote of each House of the National Assembly mandate the Vice
President to perform the functions of the office of the President, as
Acting President,

until the President transmits a letter
to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of
Representatives, that he is now available to resume his functions as
president.” Sadly, however, the revised constitution leaves the powers
of appointment of the INEC Chairman in the hands of the President. We
consider this a huge shame.

We are now left to hope that the State
houses of Assembly will expedite action on the approval of the draft of
the revised constitution.

Taking into consideration the
unpredictable nature of politicking in Nigeria,and the fact that 36
different legislative bodies are required to assent to the draft
constitution, it is certainly not out of place for anyone to be feel a
sense of concern, or alarm. Only last week, the crucial House of
Representatives vote on the harmonised draft version was aborted by the
shameful near-brawl between the Speaker and a member of the House of
Representatives.

A number of State Houses of Assembly
are in turmoil at the moment, caught up in internal strife. Two weeks
ago the premises of the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly was taken over by
policemen, to avert crisis following the impeachment of the Speaker and
his deputy. The Ogun State House of Assembly has been a theatre of
crisis for months now, with the membership split into at least two
factions. The Ekiti Assembly has in the recent past witnessed a series
of tussles between members belonging to the Action Congress (AC) and
those belonging to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

We call on the various State Houses of
Assembly to see this constitution review process as a matter of urgent
national importance, and to set aside all differences and conflicts so
as to enable speedy ratification.

Once the revised draft scales this
final hurdle, it will automatically start to take effect, and history
would have been made. The dedication that the National Assembly has
shown towards the constitution review process is commendable, and
should be extended to all their other duties and functions.

Nigeria has suffered for too long at the hands of a lethargic,
self-serving legislature. Recently the Deputy Speaker of the House of
Representatives and Chairman of the House Adhoc Committee on the Review
of the Constitution and Usman Bayero Nafada, was quoted as saying,
regarding the constitution review: “We set aside individual, group and
other primordial sentiments to work for our fatherland.” Mr. Nafada
shouldn’t have to tell us that; in the affairs of the Assembly that
kind of attitude should be the rule,not an exception.