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Tag: Ekweremadu

  • Obasanjo, Mark, Ekweremadu harp on party discipline

    Obasanjo, Mark, Ekweremadu harp on party discipline

    Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Senate President, David Mark, and Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, on Monday underscored the need for discipline in political parties.

    Obasanjo, Mark and Ekweremadu spoke at a two-day workshop organised by the National Institute for Legislative Studies with the theme: “Party politics in Nigeria and lobbying, the lobbyist and the legislature.”

    The former President noted that without discipline, no political party can endure.

    Describing discipline as an important aspect of the military, he warned that no human institution can fulfill its obligations without discipline.

    Obasanjo also stressed the need for the electorate to hold political office holders accountable to their party manifestoes.

    He regretted that political parties in the country have reduced party manifestoes to “mere instruments for political campaign.”

    He added that most political parties in the country throw away their party manifestoes shortly after being voted into office.

    Obasanjo, who said that some political parties operate without manifestoes, wondered how political parties or elected officers would be held accountable to their promises by the electorate without manifestoes.

    He said, “I want to say that there are some areas, where political parties need improvement. One of them is the issue of manifestoes. What I have come to see and understand in Nigeria is that manifestoes are prepared for campaigns and afterwards, they are thrown away.

    “How then can we hold parties and their elected leaders to their promises and manifestoes? Or if they have no manifestoes, what do we hold them to.”

    He noted that since political parties are the only vehicle through which individuals can participate in election, politicians should acquire basic ingredients of party politics in order to make election fair, free and transparent.

    Mark on his part urged the panelists to direct their ingenuity on how to solve the problem of indiscipline, lack of cohesion, ideology drought and absence of internal democracy and transparency in political parties.

    He added that deep reflection should as well be given to the malady of intra and inter-party squabbles.

    For Ekweremadu  internal party democracy is a prerequisite for democratic governance and national development.

    Ekweremadu, who is also Chairman of the Governing Council of the National Institute for Legislative Studies said political parties are critical institutions of democracy, since “their philosophies and manifestoes are the fulcrums around which politicking and governance should ordinarily revolve.”

     

  • ‘We’ll produce people’s constitution’

    ‘We’ll produce people’s constitution’

    Senator Ike Ekweremadu is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Amendment. In this interview presented by the Managing Editor, Northern Operations Yusuf Alli and Group Political Editor Bolade Omonijo, the Deputy Senate President highlights the review and presents an interim report on the committee’s activities.

     

    If you look at the 1999 Constitution, there is no position on how it should be amended. What is the thinking of your committee?

    First, we have done a number of amendments in the past and we are now doing a more elaborate amendment that will be all-encompassing. Secondly, Nigerians have been very concerned about the way the 1999 Constitution came about through a military process. I think if we make provision in the constitution for how a new provision can come into force, it can take care of that concern so that subsequent constitution can also be subjected to, probably, a referendum; a more elaborate process of consultation and possibly, a conference. There is the example of Kenya . Beyond the countries we have visited, we may still have to go to Kenya to study their own system. Kenya had the same problem and what they did was to amend their constitution to make certain provisions on how a new constitution can come about. Having got that, they also set up a commission for the implementation of those processes. It took them a long while but they were able to achieve it. When people are talking about sovereign national conference or a referendum, you ask yourself, what is the authority for this? How can we achieve this when the law does not make provision for it? Section 1 of the constitution makes it clear that you can’t do anything outside the constitution. Otherwise, you will be subverting it. Very soon, we will begin to think about making provision in the constitution. I will share the view with my colleagues and if they feel strongly about it, I am sure that this kind of amendment can also take care of it.

    Given that the 2015 elections are approaching, do you think you would have concluded the review before then?

    As far as we are concerned, we will finish sometime in 2013 and if we do, then we still have two years before the elections so that most of the things that we have done would have taken shape ahead of 2015. However, even if we don’t finish as early as we are prepared to, it will not really affect the conduct of the elections in 2015.

    Does it mean you don’t have a timeline to complete the assignment?

    We pasted guidelines since January this year and we have been following it religiously. We stated that we were going to have publications inviting people to a public hearing in the month of May, we did that. We said we would hold retreats in April, we did that. We said we would hold public hearing in October, it was held. We will be having another public hearing in November. In the first quarter of next year, we will hold a retreat. After that, within that first quarter, in the National Assembly, the debate will start in earnest. Hopefully, by July which is the third quarter, we are hopeful that the business of amendment would have been treated.

    Section 7, of the constitution provides for the independence of the local government system, but what obtains now seems to be contrary to what is provided for in the constitution. What should Nigerians expect from the amendment?

    It is one of the issues we intend to address. In addressing it, we have to first agree as to what would be the status of our Local Governments in Nigeria. We need to ensure that they get their money directly from the Federal Government without passing through a joint State/Local Government account. Recall that those who put the joint account in the constitution meant well. The idea was for the money to go into a specific account in which the State Government will contribute from their internally generated revenue and then share to the Local Governments in such a way that they will get more money than was actually paid to them by the Federal Government, but we have noticed that instead of putting money into this account and sharing to the council areas from it, some states actually take money away from the account before sharing. On the whole, beyond that amendment, it is important that governance at the state level should ensure that Section 7 of the constitution is complied with in terms of making sure that elections are held at the local government level as independent as possible.

    Your committee is said to be planning a foreign trip. Is this necessary?

    Some of our colleagues have gone to Canada to do a comparative study of our federal system and that of Canada . They came back with a very revealing result. People like Senator Attahiru and a number of other Senators were there. We believe that we also need further information, especially from those who are on the same level of development as we are, like India. We are also hoping that we will go to Brazil and we will study more advanced system like the United States of America . America is a very complex society like Nigeria . But as complex as it is, they are able to secure the territory of America while we cannot take care of our own. Canada is a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic country, yet the people are able to live together. It is the same with India , yet we cannot manage our own affairs. What are those things that are happening there which are not happening here? These are the things that we need to have practical experience of and share with our colleagues to enable them to make an informed opinion at the appropriate time. This is a globalised world. No country can live in isolation. That is why problems are easily handled these days because you can easily find examples from many places as regards how they have been able to solve their own problems. It is important for us to see how others are doing their things and getting better result. That is why it is important for us to study these areas and follow the best examples.

    How many memoranda has your committee received?

    At the last count, we had received about 240 memoranda outside the basic states’ demand. We have acknowledged these memos and these submissions and in July we had a retreat in Asaba, Delta State. There we looked at all these memos and tried to summarise them. Most of them deal with similar issues; so, we identified the specific issues which we are concentrating on; those which we considered to be thematic, we will bring them out during the national public hearing so that Nigerians will begin to make contributions towards them. We believe that every Nigerian will have an opportunity to say his or her own mind on the areas identified from the memos they have submitted. We have thrown it open to the public and I am happy that for two days, we had very useful discussion and input from various people of Nigeria . We intend to further take it to the zones so that people who are unable to attend the national public hearing will have an opportunity to bare their minds on these specific areas. Beyond that, we intend to engage our constituents. We intend to take our colleagues to their various districts so that they hold meetings with the people of their respective constituencies. Every Senator will be involved in this, but the members of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review will also organise a stakeholders’ meeting in their respective states to explain to them what we are doing and probably get their input. We are hopeful that every other Nigerian will be engaged through the electronic media, communication systems, probably by SMS. Every Nigerian will get the message on most of the issues in the form of questionnaires. It will be a two-way traffic. We would have paid for the SMS so that they won’t spend any money in answering those questions. We are setting up a website where Nigerians will have an opportunity of baring their minds in respect of these areas. On the whole, every Nigerian will be a part of this process.

    We have never had state creation under democratic setting. Do you think this National Assembly can break that jinx?

    From the memos submitted so far and from the contributions of Nigerians in the public hearings, I think there is the desire of Nigerians to have states created and we are representing the people and ours is to give meaning to the expressions of Nigerians. To that extent, we will vigorously pursue the issue of state creation. If it succeeds, fine. If it doesn’t succeed, we would have done our job.

    But some believe that you are too slow on the state creation matter.

    Creation of states is a work that needs every hand to be on deck. It requires the vote of senators and members of the House of Representatives; we also have to take it to the states so any person who believes that we sit at one place and decide on any issue including states creation does not seem to understand how these things work.

    Bakassi is a part of Nigeria as engrained in the constitutution. How will the issue of be handled during the amendment?

    The Bakassi thing is still a developing study. I don’t think it is concluded. We have heard just one aspect of it which is the ICJs judgment which we were unable to review because of timeframe and of course, because as the Attorney General has said, we didn’t have any ground to canvass. There are still other options available to Nigeria including but not limited to plebiscite for those people there to determine where they want to stay. Of course, we are also aware of the human rights violation that is happening in the peninsula right now to which Nigeria is entitled to petition and get Cameroun to answer for it. These are some of the things that are still outstanding. It is also likely that one day, that peninsula will still become a part of Nigeria.

    The issue of citizenship and residency is a very complex one. Have people raised that matter with your committee?

    Yes, a lot of concerns have been raised and we have received a lot of memos on that but speaking for myself, I don’t think the issue is that of legislation or constitutionalism. I think it has to do with our value system, our ability to live with one another. It has to do with the issue of accommodation and patriotism. These are the things that will address the issue of citizenship and residency. Beyond that, Section 147/3 of the constitution says for you to be minister from a state, you have to be an indigene of that state which I’m sure must be a mistake on the part of the framers of the constitution. No other part of the constitution makes that kind of provision. Section 42 of the constitution deals with the issue of non-discrimination. It provides in very elaborate terms that no Nigerian should be discriminated against on account of where he comes from, his ethnic base, religion, sex and so many other conditions. If we put that into focus, it means that the constitution has made sufficient provision and protection for every Nigerian in every part of Nigeria . The Supreme Court has gone further to establish that. For instance, you are in Sokoto or in Enugu and they have two regimes of school fees, you can go to court. I have not seen any Nigerian who has taken advantage of this. I am not aware of what needs to be amended in the constitution to protect Nigerians more that what is provided in Section 42 of the constitution. We are talking, so we will allow Nigerians to come up with views on how this could be addressed. Don’t forget that in the 60s, we had Mayors in the East who were from the North and don’t forget that Zik won elections in the South West and was heading to become the Premier of the Western Region. If we have sustained that attitude, by now, any person could have been governor of Sokoto State whether from South East or Southsouth. Maybe Kwankwaso would have been in Enugu as Governor. Don’t forget, too, the experience withthe late Chief MKO Abiola’s election, where we had a Muslim presidential candidate and a Muslim vice presidential candidate and they won, defeating a Muslim candidate in his own town in Kano . Those are the attitudes we need to build upon. No amount of legislation can help the matter except we change our attitude.

    The Senate appears to be driving the process alone. Since the amendment process involves concurrent action by the two chambers, what are you doing to get the House as actively involved as the Senate?

    I am happy that we don’t have bickering with the House of Representatives presently on the issue of constitution amendment. We have a peaceful system where we are working with the House, even though independently. Shortly, we will have a joint meeting with them to streamline our operations and our timeline so that nothing will drag us back. As soon as we finish our zonal public hearing, we will be able to conclude on the basic areas we are focusing on and also send copies to the House of Representatives so that members can align it with what they are doing. I am also aware that very shortly, they will be doing their own public hearing. That means we will meet at some point in the very near future.

     

  • Ekweremadu, Ihedioha, Anyim others for South East Economic Summit

    Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and his House of Representatives counterpart, Emeka Ihedioha would be the high profile members of the National Assembly from the South East who would grace the South East Economic Summit.

    The chairman of the Central Planning Committee, Chief Chris Obiefuna told reporters that the two leaders of the National Assembly have confirmed their participation in the summit which comes up November 7 to 9th.

    Expected also is the Secretary to the Federal Government, Anyim Pius Anyim

    and all the governors of the South East zone.

    The summit is the diligent initiative of the organized private sector in the South East led by the South East Chambers of Commerce Forum and strongly supported by the governments of the South East.

    Ekweremadu will chair the Political Agenda session during the grand finale which would feature Ihedioha and Senator Uche Chukwumerije as lead panelists to discuss the future of Ndigbo in Nigeria.

    Others who have confirmed their participation in the summit include the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Kingsley Moghalu; former Economic Asdviser to the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, Prof. Osita Ogbu; former chairman of Nigeria Economic Summit Group. Mazi Sam Ohuabuanwa and MD/CEO of ABC transport, Mr. Frank Nneji.

    Also confirming their participation are CEO of Juhel Group, Dr. Ifeanyi Okoye; Chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi; Director-General of Raw Materials Research and Development Council and CEO of Galaxy Backbone, Engr. Gerald Ilukwe.

    This year’s summit would dwell mainly on agriculture and infrastructure in the South East zone with specialists and experts in various fields delivering lectures.

    The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina would present the lead paper, “Re-building Agriculture”.

    A paper on infrastructure would be delivered by the DG, Lagos State PPP office, Ayo Gbeleyi as well as that of Chidi Izuwah, ED, PPP Resource Centre, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, the Presidency, Abuja.

    Obiefuna said with the wave of confirmations of participation and the unique packaging, the 2012 edition of the summit promises to eclipse the highly successful 2011 summit which was attended by over 1000 participants.

    “It will also fulfill the critical objective of providing the long overdue platform for bringing together the best, the great and the celebrated people of the South East in an efforts to chart a new roadmap for the economic and political resurgence of the zone,” said Obiefuna.

  • No to secession, says Ekweremadu

    No to secession, says Ekweremadu

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, yesterday urged anyone planning a secession to have a re-think, saying that it amounts to selfishness.

    Speaking at the 2nd Zik Annual Lecture series in Awka, Ekweremadu said it was a negation of the ideals of the founding fathers of the country for anyone to think of secession.

    He said Nigeria is better off as one country, saying that the founding fathers of Nigeria, especially Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, stood strongly against secession.

    The senator said the founding fathers knew that the country would be a better nation if all the regions stood as one country.

    “I personally believe that if we are united, we will be stronger and enjoy the benefits of the population and size of our country.

    “We are better when we are united than going our separate ways, and this was exactly what Azikiwe preached and lived for all his life.

    “And I think those of us, the younger generation and those coming after us, need to follow that path,” he prayed.

    Ekweremadu, who was the guest lecturer at the event organised by the Anambra State council of the NUJ, extolled the leadership qualities exhibited by the first president of Nigeria.

    Pointing out that he was totally a detribalised Nigerian, Ekweremadu said the late Dr. Azikiwe, worked for the common good and unity of Nigeria.

    “Zik indeed showed the light so that men could find their way, as many believed that his spirit bound the nation and provided the basis for continued unity.

    “Zik was always quick to sacrifice his personal interest as a politician, so long as it will advance the cause of the Nigerian project,” he added.

    The Chairman of the council, Mrs Tochukwu Omelu, urged Nigerians to keep the faith and tenets of the Great Zik of Africa and thanked the deputy Senate president for honouring the invitation.

     

  • State creation: Kwankwaso is confused –Ekweremadu

    State creation: Kwankwaso is confused –Ekweremadu

    •Constitution review panel gets 240 memos

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu yesterday said Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State is confused for accusing the Constitution Review Committee of a hidden agenda to create a state for the South East.

    He asked the governor to withdraw the statement.

    Ekweremadu who doubles as Chairman of the Committee said the governor ought to know that no individual can amend the constitution.

    He spoke to newsmen in Abuja. He said, “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 a democracy. Creation of state is one that requires every hand to be on the deck; it requires the votes of Senators, House of Representatives members 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 should expect him he should have withdrawn that comment by now. But I am sure some day; we will meet and talk things over.”

    He said the National Assembly Constitution Review Committee has received 240 memoranda outside 56 dealing with specific demands on state creation.

    He also said that the committee has no any hidden agenda.

    He expressed confidence that the proposed amendments to the constitution will be ready by July 2013.

    He however added that Bakassi Peninsula matter has not been concluded as issues surrounding the ceding of the place night still be addressed by the Constitution Review Committee.

    Ekweremadu said: “At the last count, I think we have received about 240 memoranda outside the ones dealing with specific state demands which is 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 these 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 so that not just those who sent memos that are entitled to pick on these things, every Nigerian will have the opportunity to say his or her own mind in respect of these thematic areas or the areas from the memos 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 from Nigerians. We intend to take it to the zones so that people who are unable to attend the national public hearing will have the opportunity to say their minds.

    “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 constituents. Every Senator will be involved in this.”

    On the deadline to complete the review, he said by July 2013 the assignment would have been completed.”

    He hinted that the fate of Nigerians affected by the ceding of Bakassi Peninsula might still be part of the ongoing constitution review.

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

    “But there are still options available to Nigeria including but not limited to the issue of plebiscite, 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 violation that they are tackling in the Peninsula right now which Nigeria is entitled to petition and get Cameroon to answer for those human rights. 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.

    “I am aware that the money due to that local government every month is sent to Joint Account.”

    Ekweremadu said neither him nor the committee has hidden agenda on constitution amendments, especially state creation.

    He said the committee is vigorously pursuing the demand for state creation.

    He added: “The other aspect which is the issue of state creation. 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 state 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.”

    On INEC, Ekweremadu said its independence as guaranteed by the present constitution is sufficient.

    He said: “I think the most important thing for us is to ensure the independence of the Election Management Body; 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.

    “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.”

     

  • Ethnicity, lack of political will bane of constitution-making, says Ekweremadu

    Ethnicity and absence of political will have been identified as the major challenges facing constitution-making in pluralistic and developing Commonwealth societies.

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu said this while speaking on the topic “The Politics of Constitution-making: The Parliaments role in relation to the people” at the ongoing 58th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Conference in Colombo Sri-Lanka.

    A statement by his Special Adviser, Uche Anichukwu, said Ekweremadu noted that the tendency for each ethnic group to seek maximum guarantee against domination by others as well as maximum share of power often tend to downplay national interest.

    It said that Ekweremadu who was the Discussion Leader for the CPA Workshop on constitution-making at the conference observed that “when the political elites approach the process of constitution-making with sectional biases and short-sightedness rather than exhibit reasoned analysis and good faith in the examination of the issues, such ethnic sentiments and provocative rhetoric only manage to envenom the polity and significantly diminish the prospects of building a consensus even on most apparently worthwhile matters”.

    Ekweremadu, who is also Chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, was quoted to have said that “the political will to balance personal, group, ethnic and institutional interests have often proven difficult in many Commonwealth states as persons in positions of authority as well as different levels and arms of government find it difficult to support provisions that will whittle down their extant powers or comparative advantages, even if such provisions would be in the overall interest of their country.”

    He added that matters that could be handled through consensus building and policy/administrative means are also subjected to the rigours of constitution amendments.

    It said that Ekweremadu also listed inexperience and lack of template of procedure, crises of expectation, temptation to do too much at a time, apathy, lack of democratic culture, and lack of autonomy of constitution-making bodies such as parliaments as major constraints to constitution-making in many Commonwealth States.

    He, however, said the challenges were surmountable, if Commonwealth lawmakers, political elites, and stakeholders put national interest above any other interests and ensured massive participation of the citizens in the constitution-making process.