Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I. Jibrin (CFR), has restated the National Assembly’s determination to deliver a people-driven and timely review of the 1999 Constitution, urging lawmakers to rise above political and sectional considerations in the process.
Speaking at the opening of a two-day joint retreat of the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Constitution Review in Lagos, Barau said the legislature remained focused on achieving its target of transmitting the first set of amendments to the State Houses of Assembly before the end of the year.
The retreat, he explained, would allow committee members to scrutinise the proposed amendments clause by clause, covering 69 bills, 55 state-creation requests, two boundary adjustments, and 278 local government-creation proposals.
“It has been a long journey. Over the past two years, we have engaged Nigerians — from town halls and stakeholder sessions to public hearings — harvesting views that have shaped the proposals before us today,” Barau said in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ismail Mudashir.
Acknowledging the scale of work before the committees, Barau urged lawmakers to keep faith with their promise to Nigerians.
“It will not be an easy task to complete within two days, but we can achieve it if we approach the issues with open minds and a spirit of patriotism,” he said.
The Deputy Senate President, who also serves as the First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, cautioned against divisive tendencies and competitive debates, reminding members that constitutional reform must serve the collective good.
“We are seated here as one committee. There should be no ‘we’ and ‘them.’ Let us be guided by what best serves the interests of Nigerians,” he added.
