Uncertainty as National Assembly begins Constitution Review

On February 6, the Senate inaugurated a 56-member Committee for the review of the Constitution. The House of Representatives is expected to follow with its own inauguration immediately. The Senate Committee is headed by its Deputy President, Ovie Omo-Agege, while the House’s Deputy Speaker will chair the Committee in the House of Representatives. Both Committees are expected to co-ordinate increasing voices calling for Constitution reforms in the country. Since its inauguration in 1999, the National Assembly has always set up the ad-hoc Committee on review of the Constitution. The high point of this Committee was its passage of the first, second and third alterations of the Constitution in 2010. An attempt to further alter the Constitution during the 7^th Assembly failed when President Jonathan refused assent. A fourth alteration however succeeded in 2018 when President Muhammadu Buhari assented to select altered sections, including provisions relating to reduction of age for certain elective offices, financial autonomy for State Legislature and Judiciary, determination of pre-election matters and restrictions to the tenures of the President and Governors. There however, remain several unresolved constitutional questions about national restructuring, as well as devolution of powers. It is unclear how the National Assembly proposes to proceed with this round of Constitution amendment. What is clear however, is that the pressure for fundamental changes to Nigeria’s legal grund norm will be prominent during the current exercise.