Constitution Review: 40 bills received for Amendment ­– Kalu

…as C’ttee sets December 2025 deadline for completion of work

By Christiana Ekpa

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu has said that 40 bills have already been received for the commencement of the 1999 constitution review.
Speaking at the pre-inaugural meeting of the House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Kalu who doubles as the chairman said that the work of the committee will be completed by December, 2025.
The Deputy also said that the constitution review committee will be officially inaugurated on February 26, 2024.
Recall that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas and the House Leadership recently constituted the committee for the 10th National Assembly, making it the sixth time the parliament will be embarking on amendments of the Nigerian Constitution.
Kalu said: “It is also the view of Mr. Speaker that we set a realistic timeline that does not conflict with electoral activities which would advertently or inadvertently affect the alteration process, specifically, December, 2025, the time we are looking at to conclude the activities of this committee.
“It is not out of place to guess that there is some level of fatigue in the Amendment process by some vocal sections of the populace. Whatever opinion you hold, it is important to let you know that we presently have 40 bills that are at various stages of consideration which relate to the Alteration of the Constitution.”
The Deputy Speaker further said that the committee will take into consideration the concerns of Nigerians and bequeath to the nation a constitution that will reflect the yearnings of the people.
He added that the committee will also consider some important bills that failed to receive the needed attention in the last constitution review.
Kalu however called on the sponsors and promoters of the bills to carry out early and thorough advocacy on the bills so as to get the buy-in of their representatives.

“The Committee is fully aware of the concerns of Nigerians on the need to finalise and conclude discussions around Nigeria’s Constitution. I will like to state however that the nature of Nigeria’s Constitution and the history around how it was made and handed over to a new civilian government in 1999, makes it imperative for us to continually revisit the several provisions of the Constitution and work towards accomplishing consensus on outstanding constitutional debates.”