Ekweremadu heads 46-man Senate constitution review committee with 27 APC members and 19 PDP members

Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, yesterday, inaugurated a 46-man Constitution Review Committee, chaired by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu. According to the list containing the names of the members of the committee, 27 are from the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), while 19 were drawn from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The committee is expected to commence work immediately and has been tasked by Saraki to conclude its exercise at least one year before the conduct of the 2019 general elections.
Ekweremadu, who headed similar committees in the Sixth and Seventh Sen-ate, said lessons learnt from the last exercise will guide the committee in the discharge of its duty.
He said timing, need to build consensus, need to rationalise the alteration process and adoption of incremental approach will guide the committee in discharging its duty. He lamented the refusal of former president Goodluck Jonathan to assent to the Fourth Alteration Bill and added that the exercise was in accordance with the wishes of Nigerians.
“The Bill contains 66 clauses amending various provisions of the consti-tution by either deleting, substituting and inserting words making entirely new provisions generally aimed at deepening democratic gains and consolidating Nigeria’s constitutional democracy,” he remarked.
Speaking on speedy completion of the exercise, Ekweremadu said: “While it is advisable for the National Assembly to adopt an incremental approach to constitution alteration, it is important that the process starts early in the life of the National Assembly. This would ensure that the exercise is concluded at least one year before the expiration of the tenure of the National Assembly.”