With Nigeria set to witness an amendment to her Constitution anytime soon, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), alongside 16 other groups in the Northern region of the country have finalized a submission to the National Assembly Constitution Amendment Committee.
According to report, the document which will reflect the interests of the North is being championed by the foremost political and cultural association of leaders of northern Nigeria, the ACF.
Recall that the 10th National Assembly has set the ball rolling for the sixth round of amendment to the 1999 Nigerian Constitution. To achieve that the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, on February 14, constituted a 45-member Committee of the Senate on the Constitution Review. The Committee is being chaired by the Deputy President of the Senate, Jibrin Barau.
In a related development, the House of Representatives Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas inaugurated a 43-member Committee on Constitution Review on February 26, 2024 in Abuja.
To achieve their terms of reference, the two Committees have separately requested the submission of memoranda or proposals from Nigerians. This is to aid in the amendments to the Constitution on a variety of thematic areas.
The areas listed for proposition of memoranda include the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian security architecture and public revenue. Others are fiscal federation and revenue allocation, judicial reforms, electoral reforms and traditional institutions.
Also to be tinker with are gender-related issues, process of state creation and state access to mining. As well as any other matter that will promote good governance and welfare of all persons in the country. These will be based on the principles of freedom, equality and justice.”
According to the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review, December 2025 deadline has been set for the conclusion of the constitution review exercise. This, it said, is to allow enough time for the process before the commencement of the 2027 general elections.
Therefore, in response to calls for memoranda, the ACF, in concert with other interest groups in northern Nigeria, set up a very high-level committee. The Committee is made up of northern technocrats, bureaucrats, traditional rulers, academics, security experts and retired military officers. Also in the Committee are women, youths, the clergy, politicians and other professionals from the North.
The submissions by these groups will form the bases to produce a memorandum that will reflect the interests of the region. This, therefore, will to be tabled before the Constitution Review Committee, CRC.
To actualize the production of the draft submission by the high-level technical committee, the leading northern lobby group, alongside 16 others, have convened a stakeholders’ meeting in Kaduna yesterday.
The stakeholders are to review and validate the draft position of the northern region ahead of its submission to the National Assembly.
According to source, the technical committee undertook a holistic review of the federal structure and power devolution. It also touched on the agitations for State creation, the Local Government System and criticisms of the system. As well as Local Government autonomy and the debate around it.
The source maintained that other subject areas the Committee examined included the public revenue, fiscal federalism and revenue allocation. They also looked at the Nigeria Police Force and the country’s security architecture, the arguments for and against State Police.
The Committee also looked into the need for further judicial and electoral reforms. These included propositions for strengthening the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). This is in a bid to delivering transparent free and fair elections, and Diaspora voting.
The draft submitted to the ACF and the other 16 Northern groups also included recommendations on the roles of security agencies in the electoral process. The socio-economic and cultural rights as contained in Chapter II of the Constitution. Roles for the traditional institution in the constitution, gender issues, indigeneship and residency issues. The immunity clause, the process of State creation and State’s access to mining. As well as matters that promote good governance, including the welfare of all citizens.
According to Daily Trust on Sunday the Secretary-General of the ACF, Malam Murtala Aliyu, stated the readiness of the memoranda.
Speaking at the end of the stakeholders’ forum in Kaduna, Aliyu said the final copy of the memoranda is read. And would be forwarded to the Constitution Amendment as required.
Aliyu added that all the 17 Groups would jointly engage with the parliamentary Committee. This is a bid to defend the submissions during its public hearings.
He listed the 16 other groups working with the ACF to include the North Central Peoples Forum (NCPF) and the Northern Elders Forum (NEF). Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation (SABMF) and Arewa Research and Development Project (ARDP). The Northern Delegates to National Confab (ND2014); Arewa House (AH) and Women in Politics. North East Leaders of Thought (NELOT) and Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN). Also in the group are ACF Action Group-Kano (ACF AG) and Arewa Media Forum.
Others are 3loggy; Arewa Movement for Good Governance (AM26)and the Kano Youth Promotion Council (KYPC). Sustainable Peace Empowerment Initiative (SPEI); and Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN) made the list.
source: Daily Trust
