Reps To Consider 86 Constitution Amendment Bills Passed By The House

By Angel Ike

The House of Representatives Committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution is considering 86 constitution amendment bills passed by the house.

The bills to consider include about 46 requests for the creation of new states and 117 requests for new local government areas across the 36 states of the federation.

The Committee is also considering two. Requests for boundary adjustment.

North Central made the highest request for new states with 12 requests, followed by the South West with 8 requests, the North West and South-south have 7 requests each, while the North East and South East have 6 requests each.

The North East has 22 requests for the creation of a new local government, the North West has 14 requests, North Central has 21 requests, South East has 24 requests, Southwest has 12 requests, while the South-South has 24 requests.

Benjamin Kalu, Chairman of the House Committee on Constitution Review and Deputy Speaker of the House said the committee segmented all the memoranda and bills received by it into different categories to help the public in making their contributions to the process.

Kalu highlighted the areas of attention as Electoral Reforms, Judicial Reforms, Traditional Institutions, Fiscal Reforms, Citizenship and Indigeneship, Fundamental Human Rights, Local Government Reform, Creation of States & Local Governments, the Legislature, Inclusive Governance, Security and Policing, Devolution of Powers, and Strengthening of Institutions.

He stressed the need for a continuous review of the Constitution as the nation’s democracy advances when it enhances the development of the country, hence there are areas of improvement on the nation’s legal document.

Kalu urged Nigerians to participate actively in the process of reviewing the 1999 constitution both in the zonal and public hearing as their input is critical to the success of the review, stating that the Committee was committed to ensuring broader participation by Nigerians and other critical stakeholders in amending the Constitution and has segmented the country into 12 zones for effective coverage during the public hearing, which will be held in two houses.

He narrated that the first phase which is scheduled to hold between July 11 and 13 will take place in Kaduna and Sokoto for the North West, Minna and Lafia for the North Central as well as Gombe and Borno for the North East.

The second phase scheduled for July 18 to 20 will take place in Lagos and Akure for the South West, Yenagoa and Calabar for the South South as well as Enugu and Owerri for the South East, while the national public hearing will hold on Monday, July 21, 2025 in Abuja.

Kalu said, “these hearings are designed to provide an open platform for citizens, civil society organisations, professional bodies, traditional institutions, and other interest groups to express their views and contribute meaningfully to the constitutional reform process.

“The Bills sponsored by Members of the House, represent legislative efforts aimed at addressing various developmental challenges affecting governance practices in Nigeria.

“The bills have been summarized in a compendium as reference material to all stakeholders and members of the public during the Zonal Public Hearings, thereby enabling them to understand the legislative proposals.

“This will help guide our legislative actions and inform our decisions when the Bills are brought up for voting, while also providing feedback to members of the public who submitted memoranda, informing them whether and how their concerns have been addressed in the proposed amendments.” He added.