Confusion as Reps begin public hearing on constitution review
From JAMES OJO, Abuja

Ahead of tomorrow’s commencement of the public hearing on six bills sent to the National Assembly by President Umaru Yar’Adua to review the 1999 Constitution, disagreement has ensued in the House of Representatives over scope of coverage.

While the Chairman of the House Committee on Constitution Review and Deputy Speaker, Hon Bello Bayero Nafada was quoted by a national daily last Friday that the issue of state creation would not be touched, chairman of Sub-Committee on Media, Hon Ezuiche Ubani countered that no stone would be left unturned as far as the review of the constitution was concerned.

Distancing from the Deputy Speaker in a press statement e-mail to House Correspondents on Sunday, Ubani stated flatly that neither the House of Representatives, nor its Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of 1999 Constitution was foreclosing the consideration of creation of new states.

“Indeed, all issues presented to the committee by way of bills through members of the House of Representatives will be considered in line with laid down legislative procedures guiding the work of the ad-hoc committee,” he confirmed.
According to him, the clarification became necessary because of the mis-perception that the committee would not consider the issue of state creation.
“At no time did the committee or its leadership foreclosed the consideration of any issue,” he stated.
To those agitating for new states, he said, there were procedures for such exercise. “Once the requirements are fulfilled, it is left to the House to decide whether the agitators are entitled to be given the state or not. If the House deems it fit to give them a state, why not. This, in our understanding, is not a reflection of any decision not to consider state creation. If anything, this is a tacit projection of the committee’s and indeed the House’s readiness to consider the matter,” Ubani said.

For the avoidance of doubt, the spokesman of the Constitution Review Committee reiterated that the committee does not have any predetermined position on any of the issues for which amendments of the constitution are being sought.

Also, he informed Nigerians that, “the committee has not and will not foreclose the issue of state creation. However, the public hearings, that will begin tomorrow, are centered on the bills forwarded by the executive, already considered and referred to the Ad-hoc Committee on Review of 1999 Constitution”.
While urging the media to report accurately on the work of the committee, he said.