By Adam Ahmed, Gusau
The Executive Director of Patriot for the Advancement of Peace and Social Development and a political analyst in the country Dr. Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi has disclosed that there is need to amend some of the segments of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution with a view to grant local governments full financial autonomy.
According to him, the 1999 Constitution as having “good, bad, and ugly” provisions need to be amended.
Dr Shinkafi in an interview with newsmen commented on the recent visit to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by a group called the Patriots, led by former Commonwealth of Nations Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku.
The group urged the President to send a bill to the National Assembly to produce a people’s constitution to save the country from protracted crises.
Dr Shinkafi stated that changing the entire constitution is ill-advised for now, especially considering the critical economic condition when things are hard for many Nigerians.
“It is not the right time to call for a national constitutional conference, national constitutional convention, or constitutional assembly to amend the 1999 Constitution.” he said
He pointed out that there is a provision in the 1999 Constitution that allows for the amendment and alteration of some chapters and sections of the constitution, which the National Assembly has the power to do, including the State Assemblies.
Dr. Shinkafi elaborated, “Going by the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, the Constitution mandated the National Assembly to constitute a joint committee for the amendment and alteration of the 1999 Constitution.
The National Assembly has to call for public hearings, seek opinions from elder statesmen, and collect memoranda from the public for amendment and alteration. They then send some segments that need alterations to state assemblies for their ratification.”
Emphasising the need for local government autonomy, he stated, “Going by the Supreme Court verdict on local government autonomy, there is a need to amend the Constitution so as to allow the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct local government elections.”
He further noted, “It’s very important to change the 1999 Constitution to allow INEC to conduct elections in the 774 local government councils of the 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, if we really want financial autonomy for LGAs.”
According to Dr. Shinkafi, “If the government really wants local governments to be independent, have financial autonomy, and use the allocation judiciously, INEC should be the one to conduct the local government council elections.”
He criticised the current system, where “some governors use the local government allocation to siphon, divert, and enrich themselves as long as they are the ones conducting elections through their State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC). To avoid this ugly scenario, there is a need to change the Constitution in this segment so that INEC can conduct the local government council elections, not SIEC.”
In his opinion, Dr. Shinkafi asserted that “the National Assembly should go on with the constitutional amendment and alterations. The 1999 Constitution has good, bad, and ugly provisions which are undemocratic.”
