From Gyang Bere, Jos
The Chairman House of Representatives Committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution and Deputy Speaker House of Representatives, Hon Ahmed Idris Wase, said the Committee received over 100 petitions from the people of the North Central zone.
Hon Wase disclosed this on Wednesday at the end of the two-day North Central public hearings of the Committee held in Jos, Plateau State.
The deputy speaker, who was represented by the House member representing North West in the Committee, who represents Wudil Garko federal constituency, Engr Muhammad Ali Wudil, assured that justice would be done to all the petition.
‘The Committee received over 100 petitions from members of the public with different interest and we assured Nigerians that the submissions would be put into consideration,’ he said.
A lead consultant to the House of Representatives Committee on Constitutional Review and Constitutional Lawyer, Prof Dakas C Dakas, SAN, assured Nigerians that the current agitations in the country would be thoroughly addressed by members of the National Assembly.
‘I know that there are Nigerians that are apprehensive about whether this process will be transparent, about whether it will be inclusive and about whether it will produce a constitution that meets the expectations of Nigeria.
‘I like to assure Nigerians that by the grace of God, the agitations will be thoroughly considered by the members of the National Assembly and the process will be inclusive.
‘I believe that the Constitution Review will afford us the opportunity to make substantive improvement on the constitution that was given to us. One of the areas in which will should make sure we get the desired outcome is to leverage this opportunity on the zonal public hearing to make our views loud and clear. The National Assembly believe that the process should be driven by the people.’
Prof Dakas appealed to Nigerians to participate actively in the constitution review to come up with a constitution that meets the expectations of the people.
He noted that those who have concerns about the creation of constituencies and boundaries adjustment should make it known for consideration.
House member representing Jos South/Jos East federal constituency, Hon Dachung Musa Bagos, said the constitution review provides Nigerians with the opportunity to ventilate their grievance on how the constitution should be amended.
He assured that they will do their best to ensure that the constitution upholds public opinion so that Nigerians can have a constitution that addresses their expectations.