The Deputy National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Dr. Ayo Olorunfemi, says the ongoing process of constitution amendment would not make much sense if it ignores restructuring and electoral reforms.
“We call ourselves a Federal Republic of Nigeria, but we are doing something else and not practising that federalism.
“As a Federal Republic, every state should have its own independence and autonomy, including having control over security at the state level.
“We need true federalism and restructuring. This is very important and should be considered in the ongoing process.
“Second to this is the electoral review. What we have now contains a lot of gaps and these encourage manipulation of elections by desperate politicians,” Olorunfemi said.
According to him, except the National Assembly reforms the Electoral Act and delivers restructuring, the country will still be struggling to survive.
“We must deploy more technology to make our elections better. We need live transmission of election results in real time.
“This is to help our democracy and put the nation on a path to development,” he stated.
He added that instead of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) deploying huge funds to produce Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) each election year, the country could work on the national identity cards, improve on it with more security features, and use the same for elections.
“We should use technology. Technology will solve the problem of votes, not counting. Let us deploy proper and tested technology,” he said.
On the issues of state police, the labour leader said it was overdue.
On immunity clause for President and governors, Olorunfemi said if immunity was removed, every public officer would sit up, knowing they could be touched.
The 10th National Assembly has begun the process of amendment of the 1999 Constitution.
The Senate had, in February, constituted a 45-member Constitution Review Committee, headed by the Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, while inaugurating members of the committee in Abuja, said the review of the constitution had become imperative “in order to put certain things right.”
Also, the House of Representatives has inaugurated its constitutional review committee for the amendment of the 1999 constitution.
The Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, while inaugurating the committee, said the step marked another significant moment in the democratic journey towards a more ‘perfect union.’
He said it was expected that the sixth alteration under the 10th National Assembly would be the most comprehensive areas listed for possible consideration in the amendment, including the creation of state police, local government autonomy and reform of the electoral system.