Speaker of the House of House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has said that the House will revisit voting on the Constitution amendment in order to address agitations for restructuring in the country.
Delivering his speech at the resumption of plenary on Tuesday, Dogara said all questions and issues regarding restructuring could only be addressed through the legislature.
He said: “Do we have a legislative response to the issues that have been thrown up? Is the National Assembly involved in the debate? Can restructuring take place outside the existing legal order? Indeed all the arguments about restructuring are at the end of the day, legislative issues.
“It may be necessary in due course for the National Assembly to have a second look at the issues that have been thrown up. The National Assembly as a representative and product of the people cannot act contrary to the wishes and aspirations of its constituents. We need to sift all the ‘noise’ and find out what exactly a majority of our people actually want? This is a responsibility we cannot outsource.
“It is my view that we need to revisit some aspects of the voting on Constitution Alteration. Luckily we still have the legislative window of conferencing with the Senate, where we have differences.”
He argued that it had become necessary to emphasise that Nigeria was a constitutional democracy with a clear legal framework for resolving differences that normally arose among citizens, between citizens and government, as well as between the structures and arms of government.
“Make no mistake, as representatives of the people we have a duty to champion the protection and preservation of the rights of our constituents and peoples. We are very conscious and indeed jealous of the fundamental rights provided under our Constitution as well as the Human and Peoples Rights under the African Charter”, Dogara added.
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