Femi Gbajabiamila who is the Speaker, House of Representatives has said the sole reason for the amendment of the 1999 Constitution is to address critical national issues the current document has failed to address.
He made this statement on Tuesday during the opening of the zonal public hearing on amendment to the constitution in Lagos.
According to him, the current document falls short of these standards, explaining that this is “because the 1999 Constitution is the product of a hurried national compromise that we entered into two decades ago in order to ensure that the military returned to the barracks and that we returned to democratic government.
The Speaker said the National Assembly needs the support of the citizens to produce a people-oriented constitution.
The speaker was quick to cite the foundational constitution of the United States of America which initially deemed people of colour to be ‘less than’ and denied women the right to vote. It did not include any limits on the President’s term of office and allowed for citizens to be denied the right to vote for failure to pay the ‘poll tax’. Twenty-seven reviews and amendments, over 100 years cured these and other defects.
Gbajabiamila also pointed out that no nation in the world has a perfect constitution, but we need a near-perfect constitution in Nigeria and this can be achieved through substantive amendments that significantly alter the character of our nation.