Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, on Wednesday said that the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution would answer questions bothering on Nigeria’s unity.
Tambuwal spoke at the opening of a retreat for members of the House AdHoc Committee on Constitution Review in Abuja.
The committee, headed by the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha, organised the retreat to allow House members appraise the report of the People’s Public Sessions on the constitution and prepare them for the next stage of the review process.
It would be recalled that the public sessions held across the federation on November 10, 2012, with Nigerians voting on a 43-item template on sections of the constitution they deemed required amendments.
Tambuwal said, “As you well know, our country today faces many challenges and some of our people have been asking questions about the very nature of our union.
“We hope eventually to provide Nigerians with a constitution that will answer some of these questions and further cement our hard fought unity.”
The Speaker, who claimed that Nigerians’ reactions since the House publicly tendered the report of the People’s Public Sessions on April 18 was an indication of their confidence in the National Assembly to do a thorough representation of their views in the constitution, however, warned the committee members against cutting corners or attempting to impose their own views on the people in the course of appraising the report.
“So far, you have all shown remarkable patriotism but I must again emphasise the need for your work to be free of all personal bias.
“You must work only on data provided by the nationwide public hearing and your conclusion should reflect the aggregate opinion of fellow Nigerians”, the speaker stated.
