CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT: Govs plan own bill •Agree to conduct LG polls

Governor Rotimi Amaechi, chairman NGF.

RIVERS  State governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, has stated that governors in the country are working out a constitution amendment bill, which will soon be sent to the National Assembly.
The governor, who is also the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), said in an interaction with newsmen in Abuja that the governors were concerned about a number of items in the current constitution.
Though he did not mention details of the issues being reviewed by the governors, Mr Amaechi said that the governors would make the items public after they had ratified the draft document in their next few meetings.
He said: “We are working with the president in that regard [constitution amendment]. Currently, what we have done is that we are pursuing constitutional amendment. The governors are meeting in that regard; we have met up to some point. I remember some journalists accosted me and asked what the outcome of the meeting was and I said it was inconclusive. We are bound to hold a second meeting and by next week or thereabouts; we should hold a second meeting to conclude on all the issues and send a bill, a private member’s bill on the amendment of the constitution to the National Assembly.”
He also declared that the NGF would articulate its positions on the revenue sharing formula and other issues of importance in the polity and forward same to the National Assembly as a private member’s bill.
He stated further: “We are not in a position to say that [on revenue formula]. Ask the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission that question. What we are saying is that we have a position. We will articulate that position in the next meeting we have and then come up with an amendment bill and send to the National Assembly.”
On local government administration, Governor Amaechi said that all governors had discussed the need to allow democratic governance at the local government level and that states that were yet to conduct council elections would soon do so.
When asked whether the governors were not worried that the system of democratic governance was fast being eroded in the councils, he said, “to that extent you are right. At the Governors’ Forum we have resolved that in the next few months, governors who have not conducted local government council elections should endeavour to do that and all governors are very willing to conduct elections. Lagos has just finished its own. Niger has finished its own.”
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