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Getting New Constitution Almost Impossible, Says National Assembly

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The National Assembly has said it will be difficult to repeal the 1999 Constitution and enact a new law for Nigeria, noting that there are stringent conditions for achieving it.

The Deputy President of the Senate and Chairman of the Senate’s Ad Hoc Committee on Constitution Review, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, said, “It is not impossible but it is difficult.”

He also said while several socio-political and cultural groups, as well as prominent Nigerians, were clamouring for a new constitution, the parliament had yet to receive a memorandum seeking to amend Section 9 of the Constitution.

Omo-Agege made this known while featuring on Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels Television monitored by one of our correspondents in Abuja on Thursday.

The Deputy Senate President was asked about the possibility of having a new constitution as the 1999 Constitution in operation had been criticized as a fraud imposed by the military on the country.

He said, “Frankly, this very issue has become topical of late. For some of us, we can accept and tolerate that from people who don’t know. But it becomes a little bit perplexing and annoying, in fact, when you hear people who ought to know and indeed do know that we do not have the powers to write a new constitution (call for it). The only power we have is to alter the constitution and that is what the extant legal order provides for.

“The framers of the constitution- and I was not one of them – in their wisdom decided that it would be best to have incremental alterations as opposed to a total overhaul; a total rewrite. And that is why they provided under Section 9 of the Constitution on how to go about this. What the law says is that we can alter any provision of the Constitution. It does not say we can alter all of the provisions of the constitution. And the provision sets out the methodology and the mode for doing just that.

“Don’t forget: those who asked us to do a rewrite, they forget that in Section 9, for you to do a rewrite of a new Constitution, you need to amend Section 9 of the (1999) Constitution. And for you to amend Section 9 of the Constitution, you require four-fifths – in the Senate, that is about 88 senators, of the 109; and 288 of the 360 members of the House of Reps – just for you to amend that Section 9 itself.”

Omo-Agege also stated that to amend Section 9, a bill had to be sponsored to seek the alteration.

“As I speak to you, we have received more than 350 memoranda on the amendment of the constitution, and not one – not one – is requesting an amendment of Section 9 of the Constitution. That is probably they know how difficult it is to muster 88 votes out of 109. To even muster two-thirds of the votes is almost impossible, not to talk about four-fifths of the Senate and the House of Representatives. But the bottom line is this: under the extant constitution, the only thing we are permitted to do is increment amendment or alteration, and this is not new.”

He said those who were agitating for a new constitution should meet with their lawmakers so that areas they did not like would be amended.

The Deputy Senate President, however, stated that only amendments that would maintain the unity of the country would scale through.

He also said the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), would sign any bill that did not tamper with the unity of the country.

In Abuja, there was a call for a new constitution at the opening of the national public hearing of the Senate committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution.

But Omo-Agege stated, “Specifically, Section 9 of the constitution empowers the National Assembly to alter the provisions of the constitution and prescribes the manner in which it is to be done.

“Unfortunately, it does not make a similar provision or provide a mechanism for replacing or re-writing an entirely new constitution.

“To embark on any process without prior alteration of Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution to provide the mode through which an entirely new constitution could be made, would amount to a gross violation of our oath of allegiance to the constitution.”

However, a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, who represented her group, Fixed Politics Initiative, at the forum insisted that the production of a brand new constitution remained the only way to address the nation’s social, political, and economic crisis.

On the occasion, stakeholders called for full financial autonomy for local governments, state legislatures, and the judiciary.

There were also calls for the creation of a ministry of chieftaincy affairs and the assignment of roles to traditional rulers in the constitution.

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NDLEA Seizes Lipsticks Stuffed With Drugs At Lagos Airport [VIDEO]

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Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have uncovered another batch of female lipsticks containing illegal drugs at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

Femi Babafemi, the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, revealed this in a post shared on his X (formerly Twitter) page on Sunday.

He also urged Nigerians, particularly women, to be extremely vigilant when purchasing or accepting beauty products, especially from unfamiliar sellers or dubious online platforms.

The statement read, Ladies beware! It does appear like female lipstick is becoming attractive as an instrument for concealment and trafficking now with yet another consignment of factory fitted female lipsticks stuffed with illicit substances intercepted at MMIA barely a week after @ndlea_nigeria officers uncovered a similar cargo at a courier company in Lagos.

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JUST IN: Former President Buhari Dies In London Clinic

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Former Nigerian leader, Muhammadu Buhari, passed away on Sunday.

His longtime media aide, Garba Shehu, confirmed the news in a brief statement issued on Sunday afternoon, stating that the former president died at a clinic in London.

Shehu’s message, distributed to the media, read:
“INNA LILLAHI WA INNA ILAIHIRRAJIUUN. The family of the former president has announced the passing on of the former president, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, this afternoon in a clinic in London. May Allah accept him in Aljannatul Firdaus, Amin.”

The statement concluded with the date: July 13, 2025.

Although the cause of death was not disclosed, Buhari, who held office from 2015 to 2023, had frequently sought medical care in the United Kingdom during and after his time as president.

Buhari, a retired Major General in the Nigerian Army, first led Nigeria as a military head of state from 1983 to 1985. Decades later, he was elected president through a democratic process. He made history as the first opposition candidate to unseat a sitting president in Nigeria.

Funeral plans have not yet been made public.

 

More to come…

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No Effective Governance Without Full Local Government Autonomy — Femi Gbajabiamila

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The Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, has stated that governance at the local government level cannot be effective without complete autonomy.

He made the remark while addressing journalists after voting in the Lagos State local government elections in Surulere on Saturday.

When asked about the progress of implementing the LG autonomy ruling by the Supreme Court one year after it was delivered, Gbajabiamila described the process as ongoing and said it would be completed with time.

Gbajabiamila said, “The ruling was welcome by everybody. It’s the execution of that ruling and the implementation of that ruling that we are still trying to dot the Is and cross the Ts.

“I believe in a matter of time, we will realise full autonomy. There cannot be effective governance without full autonomy. That’s what we are working toward.”

In July 2024, the Supreme Court granted autonomy to all 774 local government areas across the country following a case filed by the federal government through the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation. However, the ruling is yet to be fully implemented.

Following the judgement, the Senate urged state and local governments to immediately adhere to the court’s directive, especially regarding local government accounts and direct fund disbursements.

The Senate also moved to amend relevant sections of the Constitution to ensure full local government autonomy nationwide.

The announcement was made by Deputy Senate President Senator Jibrin Barau, after lawmakers emerged from a closed-door session where they discussed alleged efforts by some state governments to bypass the Supreme Court’s ruling on July 11.

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