Following the military invasion of the house of the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, in Umuahia, and its recent clashes with the military and other security agencies. The national assembly may after all revisit the devolution of powers bill.
The devolution of powers bill suffered a devastating defeat in the two chambers of the National Assembly last month and would be revisited by the lawmakers when they resume after their recess. This is amid rising separatist agitations and pressure on the ruling All Progressives Congress to make good its electoral promise to restructure the federation and devolve more powers to the federating units.
THISDAY gathered at the weekend that the lawmakers were considering revisiting the devolution of powers bill, when they resume next week, to address some of the perceived imbalances in the polity that are widely believed to be fueling the current agitations.
Chairman of the Constitution Amendment Review Committee and Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, confirmed that the bill on devolution of powers would be revisited when he responded to questions on the issue.
“We will deal with it when we resume,” Ekweremadu said via mobile text message.
Ekweremadu, a major proponent of restructuring, was, however, more elaborate in a statement issued soon after the defeat of the devolution bill last month.
He had stated, “We are also conscious of the fact that Nigerians are worried about some of the recommendations that did not pass. Let me use this opportunity to further appreciate and reassure Nigerians that we are sensitive to their feelings and that we are likely going to revisit some of the issues they are concerned about when we return from our vacation.
“Some of the issues did not scale through because there is need for fuller understanding as well as more consultations and consensus building on them and their implications for our people.”
The bill No. 3, 2017 (Devolution of Powers) seeks to alter the Second Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, Part I and II, to move certain items to the Concurrent List, from the Exclusive List, in order to give more legislative powers to the states.
Meanwhile, President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, said the upper chamber planned to meet soon with the security chiefs over the growing tension in the South-east, where a pro-autonomy group, the Indigenous People of Biafra, has been clashing with security agents, resulting in fatalities.
“The Senate leadership will soon meet with security chiefs and we will work for the promotion of dialogue as well as peaceful resolution of all contentious issues. Once again, I plead with our people to avoid taking laws into their hands or antagonizing our neighbors.” He said.
Recall that Governors of the five South-east states met in Enugu on Friday and banned the activities of IPOB in the zone, on the same day that the military declared the group a terrorist organisation. But Ohanaeze a communiqué said, “The Imeobi resolved that IPOB is not a terrorist organisation.
“There are processes under extant national and international laws, especially the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011, as amended in 2015, to determine whether a group is a terrorist organization.” It rejected the current military operation in the South-east, saying, “Military option is never a solution to the problem of nation building. We refer, for instance, to the goings on in Spain, Scotland and other parts of the world to reaffirm that only through dialogue can the national question be resolved.”
In an attempt to douse the tensions, APC said it would tomorrow begin nationwide dialogue sessions on restructuring from the South. It is the first in a series of consultations aimed at getting the feedback of Nigerians on key issues behind the current agitations, like true federalism, resource control, and greater autonomy of the federating units. APC said the sessions would hold simultaneously in Enugu (South-east), Benin City (South-south), and Ibadan (South-west).
However, PDP has asked its members not to participate in the dialogue sessions organised by APC, saying the ruling party has no genuine interest in restructuring the country. Addressing journalists on Saturday at the party’s headquarters in Abuja, the PDP spokesman, Dayo Adeyeye, said APC was using the public hearing to buy time.
“It is a delay tactic meant to kill the demand for restructuring and we are not interested and we will not participate in such hearing because the APC has no genuine interest in restructuring the country,” Adeyeye stated.