My friend, Kwankwanso doesn’t understand constitution making – Ekweremadu

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor & Abutu Agada
Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the Deputy President of the Senate and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, SCCR between 2007 and 2011 led the National Assembly’s remarkable effort in amending the 1999 Constitution. 

The amendments smoothened the way towards the relatively successful round of general elections in 2011. Following the last amendments, the National Assembly is again on the verge of another set of amendments. In this interview, Senator Ekweremadu gives details of the work of the committee and addresses issues of concern among the general public. Excerpts:

How far have you gone in the process of constitution review?

At the last count, I think we have received about 240 memoranda outside the ones dealing with specific state demands which are about 56. We have as much as possible acknowledged these submissions. In July, you will recall that we had retreat in Delta where we looked at all these memoranda and tried to summarize them because most of them are dealing with similar issues.

We tried to identify issues which these memos are concentrating on and those were the things we considered as the thematic areas.

So, we brought them out during the national public hearing which ended on Friday so that Nigerians will begin as much as possible to make contributions towards these so that not just only those who sent memos that are entitled to speak on these things. We believe that every Nigerian will have an opportunity to say his or her own mind in respect of these thematic areas or the areas so far submitted.

So, we have thrown it to the public and I am happy that for the two days, we had very useful discussions and various people of Nigeria. We intend further to take it to the zones so that people who are unable to attend the national public hearing will have the opportunity to bear their minds in respect of these specific areas.

Constitution Review

Beyond that we intend to engage our constituents at the level of constituency. We intend to take our colleagues to their various districts so that they will hold their meetings with their respective constituents. Every Senator will be involved in this.

The members of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review will beyond that organise stakeholders meetings in their respective states to articulate their states’ positions or maybe get their input.

We are hopeful that every other Nigerian will be engaged through the electronic media, through the communication system SMS most likely so that every Nigerian will get a message on the issues in form of questionnaire and it is going to be a two-way traffic, we would have paid for that SMS so that you are not losing any money by answering those questions.

So, we want to get every Nigerian, both those within and outside Nigeria to be involved as we are setting up a website where Nigerians will also have the opportunity of bearing their minds on most of these issues.

So, on the whole, we believe in the principle of inclusivity in ensuring that every Nigerian will have the opportunity of being part of this process. So, by that means, every Nigerian will be part of the process.

Do you have timelines for the process?

We set timelines in January this year and we have been following this religiously. By July 2013, we are hopeful that this set of amendments would have been passed or defeated.

Bakassi controversy

Bakassi is engraved in the Nigerian constitution. Would your amendment remove it from the constitution now that it has been handed over to Cameroon?

The Bakassi thing, is if you like what you say in journalism, is a developing story. So, I don’t think it is concluded. We have had just one aspect of it which is the ICJ judgment which we were unable to review because of time frame and of course as the Attorney-General of the Federation said we did not have new issues to canvass.

But there are still other options available to Nigeria including but not limited to the issue of plebiscite or referendum if you like, for those people to determine where they would want to stay.

And of course, you are also aware of the human rights violations that are happening in the peninsula right now which Nigeria is entitled to petition and get Cameroon to answer for those human rights violations.

So, these are some of the things that are still outstanding. It is also likely that one day that peninsula will still become part of Nigeria. So to excise it at this time will be hasty and I am aware that the money due to that local government is sent to Cross River joint account every month.

There are still concerns over INEC as the president still has the right to appoint the Resident Electoral Commissioners?

I think the most important thing for us is to ensure the independence of the Election Management Body, and we have been able to secure that. You know that the President appoints but you also know that the President cannot remove them himself, it would require the resolution of the Senate.

So, that is a sufficient check.

Besides, the constitution earlier provided that the rules and programmes of the Electoral Commission should be approved by the President but we have removed that from the constitution. So, they don’t need to and they will not revert to the President on the day-to-day running of  their affairs. That is what the constitution says presently.

Now, they are also sufficiently independent in terms of their funds, they are on the First Line charge.  I think that we have secured sufficient independence for the electoral body and this has been amplified in the manner the 2011 election was conducted.

I do not think that there is much to look at in terms of further reforms in the electoral process except for us, maybe, to look at the Electoral Act and see if there are some areas we need to strengthen.

Electoralmatters

You will recall, we provided for the period in which electoral matters should be dispensed with but somehow we did not consider that sometimes a matter can be sent back to the tribunal for retrial.

What is your position on the allegation raised by Governor Kwankwanso that you and the committee have a hidden agenda as concerning the creation of new states?

From the memoranda we have got so far and from the contributions of Nigerians at the public hearing so far, I think there is the desire of Nigerians to have states created.  And we are representing the people and we are to give meaning to the expression of Nigerians.

To that extent, we are going to vigorously pursue the issue of state creation. If it succeeds fine, if it does not succeed, we would have done our job.

My friend, Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, has accused me twice in that direction. My first attitude was simply to ignore him and focus on what I am doing because I believe he was  mistaken in the accusation.

Secondly, I believe two wrongs do not make a right. We are public servants we cannot be joining words on the pages of newspapers. And as I said, he is my friend. As the late Chief Awolowo said, if we are related, we would always meet. I am going to meet with him some time and we will be able to talk it over one to one.

But on a serious note, we have to understand how things work. This is a civilian regime, this is democracy. Creation of states is one that requires every hand to be on deck; it requires the votes of Senators, members of the House of Representatives and we also have to take it to  the states.

So, any person who believes that he would sit in one place and decide on any issue, including  state creation,  does not seem to understand how these things work in the first place.

I think my friend Kwankwaso seems not to understand clearly how states are being created for him to send signal that any person could sit in one place and ensure that states are created. That is the way military created their own states. I am surprised that Kwankwaso does not know that things have changed. This is a civilian regime where nobody will stay in one place and then decide the states to be created.

Everybody, every state will be involved in the creation of states no matter where the states will be created, including Kano State. Kano State will also be involved.

So, it is unfair to accuse any person, including myself, of having a position on the matter already because mine is to guide the process. The determination of what will happen ultimately is left to the parliamentarians at the national and state levels, not a single person will take that decision.

I believe he was completely mistaken in that direction. There is no mindset on any issue. And I have made it clear severally that we do not have any position on anything, our position will be dependent on what Nigerians think about any issue.

I have nothing to lose or gain from any of these things, except in my position as a public servant who has been given an assignment and I have to do that assignment as diligently as possible. So, that is just my commitment on that. Beyond that, I do not think that I have any personal interest to pursue a particular agenda.

I consider it as an unfair comment, I expect him he should have withdrawn that comment by now. But I am sure some day, we will meet and talk things over.