Clamour for local government autonomy, state police, single term tenure for president and governors, rotational presidency, and regionalism dominate debate among Nigerians as National Assembly commences work on the 1999 constitution amendments exercise, reports Sunday Aborisade . Members of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review led by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Jibrin Barau, in collaboration with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), recently concluded a two-day retreat in Kano to set the stage for the exercise which would end in December, 2025. Some of the critical constitutional issues slated for review included the state police, state creation, diaspora voting, gender equity and full autonomy for local governments, among others.
Members of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee were divided on some of the issues during their different engagements with newsmen at the sidelines of the retreat. Surprisingly many Nigerians who had bared their minds on the assignment of the federal lawmakers had suggested issues that must be included in their agenda if the country must truly move forward. For instance, leaders of various socio-political and cultural organisations from different geo-political zones of the country and eminent individuals had argued that Nigeria could only achieve greatness as a nation if it reverted to the regional system of government which was practiced in the defunct First Republic.
Some had equally called for the inclusion of a single term tenure .