DEPUTY Senate President and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution review Ovie Omo-Agege has invited all Nigerians to zonal public hearing on the review of the 1999 Constitution to be held this month.
Omo-Agege released the invitation on Tuesday, stating that the two-day zonal public hearing on ‘The Proposed Alteration to the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’ would be held on Wednesday and Thursday, May 26 and 27, at two centres in each of the six geo-political zones in Nigeria.
Omo-Agege noted that the hearing in the North-Central would be held in Jos and Minna, while Bauchi and Gombe would host the hearing for the North-East.
In the North-West, Kaduna and Sokoto were chosen as centres for the public hearing, as Owerri and Enugu were selected to host the event in the South-East.
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The zonal public hearing for the South-South would be held in Port Harcourt and Asaba, while the South-West would have its hearing in the cities of Akure and Lagos.
The time for the hearing was fixed at 10.00 am- 5.00 pm for both days, and the issues for the public hearing included matters surrounding gender equality in governance, power devolution, local government autonomy, among several others.
According to Omo-Agege, other issues promoting the unity and good governance of Nigeria would be discussed at the public hearing.
Members of the public were encouraged to contact Clerk to the Committee Innocent Mebiri on 08037092195, 08055307604 or via email: [email protected] for further enquiries.
A 56-member committee was inaugurated in February 2020 by the President of the Senate Ahmad Lawan. The committee was set up under the leadership of Omo-Agege, to embark on another round of amendment of the 1999 Constitution in 2018.
Omo-Agege had promised that the committee would be all-inclusive and guarantee full participation of Nigerians who had expressed keen interest in the proposed constitutional review.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.