From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives has said that state creation, local government, electoral, judicial reforms and greater women participation in politics will be accorded priority in the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Deputy speaker and chairman, House Special Ad-hoc Committee on Review of the Constitution, Idris Wase, stated this at the commencement of a two-day retreat for members of the committee, yesterday, in Abuja.
Wase charged committee members to brace up for the challenges ahead, saying it was an opportunity to write their names in gold in the service of the country.
“As at today, we require electoral reforms guiding our constitution and this is the right moment to have this done. So I expect us to spend our time, give in our best and send out the best of what Nigeria will require to improve our electoral system and participation.
“We also have issues of judicial reform which is very key. We are aware of the various shortcomings within that sec- tor. Local government reform is another thorny and burning issue that we need to put our heads together to ensure we liberate that particular system for the benefit of Nigerians.
If that tier of government is working fine, a lot of things happening today, be it insecurity, social infrastructure will be addressed. If the structure of local government is functional, made to work in the manner that it used to be before, I think, there would be a serious improvement in that aspect.
“The issue of state creation, the roles of our traditional rulers, all these are very important issues we should give attention to. By the time we are able to achieve these, we will able to write our name in gold. May God help us,” Wase said.