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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We felt the National assembly is no more representing the interest of its constituents. Thanks you my distinguish speaker
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