Thread by @IkeGod_

ONGOING AMENDMENT TO NIGERIA'S 1999 CONSTITUTION: MY TAKE HOME

Of the 68 bills voted on by the @NGRSenate & @HouseNGR, Tuesday, seeking to amend Nigeria's 1999 Constitution, 49 unanimously scaled through, as voting were done simultaneously in both chambers.

Below are the bills:

1/ Financial Autonomy For Local Government Areas, et al.

2/ Provision for virtual court hearing, et al.

3/ Timeline for Executive to present treaties to @nassnigeria for domestication, et al.

4/ Creation of office of Mayor of Abuja, et al.

5/ As Amendment to Nigeria's 1999 Constitution is still in the works, my piece on how the Youths can force Nigeria's ruling political elites to urgently restructure motherland, penned February 11, 2020, remains relevant, till date. Read👇

6/ With all the social-political & economic ills bedeviling Nigeria, particularly, her broken internal security architecture, me thinks, the abovementioned 49 bills that scaled through amendment proceedings on the floors of @nassnigeria, seem too myopic and not all-encompassing.

7/ As captured in my Feb. 11, 2020 piece, of the over 68-line items in the Exclusive Legislative List, for internal improvement & good governance across Nigeria's 6 geo-political zones, 36 States & 774 LGAs, me thinks many should be devolved to the Concurrent Legislative List.

8/ For constitutional context, by Concurrent Legislative List, I mean: Health, Education, Agriculture, Road, Housing- the five major areas where powers are shared jointly by Nigeria's Federal Government and the 36 State Governments.

9/ Ahead of 2023, Nigeria is at the crossroads. I therefore agree with Constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, who in a recent interview with @channelstv argued that some items proposed by @nassnigeria as amendments to the 1999 Constitution are “totally irrelevant” to Nigerians.

10/ How did @nassnigeria fail to review Nigeria's skewed and unworkable Revenue Sharing Formular, where FG takes 52.68%, States- 26.72% & LGs- 20.60%, with 13% derivation revenue going to oil producing states. This formular has not worked since 1999. It must be revisited, ASAP.

11/ I agree with Prof. Sagay, when he opined that Nigeria must go back to the provisions of the 1963 Constitution under which Regions, now States, retained 50 percent of their resources; sent 20 percent to the Federal Government, and sent 30 percent to a distributable pool.

12/ That 30 percent sent to the Distributable Pool is distributed among the Regions- now States of the Federation in accordance with their levels of sufficiency in terms of provisions.

13/ Under the distributable pool, poorest States should get more from that pool. Every state, even the rich, will also get some share. This is no Rocket Science. Time & tax payers Naira spent to amend the 1999 constitution without this Revenue Sharing Formular is arrant nonsense.

14/ Exclusive Legislative List Item 45- Giving Nigeria's present broken internal security architecture, is @nassnigeria not deeply worried that it's high time @PoliceNG is decentralised, as it operates in saner climes such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, et al?

15/ A Nigeria with 37 Independent State Police, 774+ Local Police Depts, with residents/indigenes of the respective States and Local Government Areas, making up the personnels, will be better secured that this current corruption-riddled, unprofessional Abuja-controlled @PoliceNG.

16/ Funding Issue: A Nigeria where States & LGAs have a large share in revenues accrued from Mines & minerals, including oil fields, oil mining, geological surveys & natural gas, naturally deposited on their lands, can fund this Decentralised Police. The 1963 Model is sacrosanct.

17/ Tyrannical State Govs, LGA Chairs: Members of @nassnigeria should fear not. A decentralised Police won't gift tyrannical powers to State Governors/LGA Chairs.

An Independent DSS, @officialEFCC, @ICPC_PE & Office of the Attorney General of the Federation will tame them.

18/ In Representative Democracies, globally, for Law Enforcement, one of the major constitutional powers of the Executive Arm, strong, independent institutions are needed, not strong men nor women.

Even in the U.S., the fear of @FBI is the beginning of wisdom for Govs, et al.

19/ @NGRSenate & @HouseNGR must revisit Item 45 in the Exclusive Legislative List, thus, decentralising @PoliceNG, as it operates in saner climes such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, et al? Save for this, Nigeria's internal security architecture will tank further.

20/ Exclusive Legislative List Item 33- Insurance should be devolved to the Concurrent Legislative List. All 36 States, including FCT Abuja, should make it compulsory for operators of automobiles resident in their States to purchase a Comprehensive or Liability Insurance Policy.

21/ In a 2018 report by Nigeria's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and @FRSCNigeria, it was revealed that every 4 hours, no fewer than 2 lives are lost on Nigerian roads. And every year, about 20,000 of the 11.654 million vehicles in the country are involved in road accidents.

22/ Compulsory Insurance Policies for motorists across States will sanitize Nigeria's roadways. States can also generate Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) through the taxes from Insurance Policies, and taxes paid by insurance agencies. FG got no business with Insurance Policies.

23/ ELL Item 39: On control of Mines, minerals, including oil fields, oil mining, geological surveys & natural gas, Nigeria should re-adopt the Model in the 1963 Constitution (50:20:30).

This will give States more IGR to survive without going caps in hand to Abuja, monthly.

24/ I agree with @nassnigeria as it reviewed the Exclusive Legislative List Item 48, devolving the Prisons System to the Concurrent Legislative List. Doing this will go a long way to curb Abuja's red-tapisms, thus, cleansing the age-long rots in Nigeria's Federal Prisons System.

25/ Dear @nassnigeria, Nigeria's Criminal Justice System needs urgent Reforms. As at April 2020, there were 73,726 inmates held across Nigeria's prisons. Of this, over 51,983 (70%), mostly youths, are held without trial. Only about 22,773 inmates have been convicted. Injustices!

26/ Dear @nassnigeria, Exclusive Legislative List Item 51 needs an urgent ammendment. Nothing should bar States from establishing Public Holidays to cater for the immortalization of icons from their States, among other reasons best known to them.

27/ In our own Anambra State, our incoming Governor, Prof. @CCSoludo would agree with me, that icons such as our own Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe; Chief Odimegwu Chukwuemeka Ojukwu; Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Prof. Chinua Achebe, Dr. Dora Akunyili, etc, need to be immortalized via Public Holidays.

28/ I agree with @nassnigeria, as they devolved to the Concurrent Legislative List, Exclusive Legislative List Items 3 (Aviation); 55 (Railways); Power Generation/Transmission, in areas covered by national grid. Like 1960-1966, healthy competitions would be fostered among States.

29/ Dear @nassnigeria, me thinks Exclusive Legislative List Item 11 and 63 must be revisited.

Rather than waiting for Abuja, States should be allowed to Construct and Maintain all the so-called Federal Trunk Roads, while FG provides the fund up-front or reimburses them, ASAP.

30/ According to @CIA, as at 2017, of Nigeria's 195,000 kilometres of Road Networks, just about 60,000 kilometres were Paved and over 135,000 kilometres were Unpaved. This is a Massive Deficit. Such deficits portend a huge negative impact on the lives of Nigerians & the economy.

31/ Exclusive Legislative List Item 63: Traffic on Federal Trunk Roads should be devolved to the Concurrent Legislative List. Morph @FRSCNigeria into States' Departments of Motor Vehicles (VIOs). Let States issue Drivers License, Number Plates, Automobile Titles & Drivers Tests.

32/ Dear @nassnigeria, repealing the Act establishing @FRSCNigeria and devolving Exclusive Legislative List Item 63 (Traffic on Federal Trunk Roads) to the Concurrent Legislative List, ushers a huge IGR opportunity for States, as they issue Drivers Licenses, Number Plates, etc.

33/ @nassnigeria, devolve ELL Item 61 to Residual Legislative List. FG should hands-off the formation, annulment & dissolution of marriages. LGAs should knot all forms of Court marriages. Islamic/Christian/Customary marriages must get their licenses from LGAs. Huge IGR for LGAs!

34/ Exclusive Legislative List Item 62 e & f: States & LGs should not be barred in the control of the prices of goods and commodities designated by the National Assembly as essential goods or commodities; and registration of business names. FG should regulate only Int'l Commerce.

35/ Dear @nassnigeria, there is an urgent need to Deregulate Nigeria's oil industry. This will lure more local/foreign investors, including States, leading to building more functional refineries; market forces driving petrol pump price; no corrupt petrol subsidies & scarcity.

36/ Dear @nassnigeria, there is an urgent need to revisit your refusal to give legal teeth to the long-awaited National Gender Policy, thus, promoting 35% affirmative action for the Nigerian women, at all branches/tiers of government, in politics and governance.

37/ Dear @nassnigeria, one major Elephant in the room, which Nigeria's ruling political elites run away from, but which rears its ugly head since time immemorial, remains Power Rotation at the centre.

Let's go back to some proposals at the 1994/1995 Constitutional Conference.

38/ At that conference chaired by late Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte, Mkpoko Igbo, et al, proposed that for Equity, office of @NGRPresident should be rotated among the Six Geo-Political Zones:

- South West
- South East
- South South
- North West
- North East
- North Central.

39/ They had proposed that office of the President should be rotated among the 6 geo-political zones, for a single term of 5 years, arguing that there should be a 30-year experiment from 1998/1999. In their thinking, such arrangement will pacify all zones to wait for their turn.

40/ Had Nigeria implemented that arrangement with the return of civil rule in 1999, by 2029, all Nigeria's 6 geo-political zones would have produced the President; Vice President; @NGRSenate President; Deputy @NGRSenate President; @HouseNGR Speaker & Deputy @HouseNGR Speaker.

END- Dear @nassnigeria, among other things, the whole/part of report of the #2014Confab should stop gathering dusts in Abuja. They should be implemented. The vision of NASS must be to create a Healthy Competition among Nigeria's 36 States, including FCT Abuja, and all 774 LGAs.