The duo made the remark during the inauguration of the 38-man review committee in the National Assembly wednesday. Saraki said the current review committee is expected to merely consolidate on the botched review exercise by the seventh Senate, a move he said would strengthen the nation’s constitutional democracy. He also charged the new committee to effectively collaborate with its counterpart committee in the House of Representatives with a view to ensuring early completion of the exercise. “This current review is an attempt by the eight National Assembly to cement and exhaustively conclude the process of the fourth Alteration Bill which is essentially hinged on strengthening our constitutional democracy, entrenching our unity and widening the remit of institutions that enable the implementation of development plan, respect for the Constitution and the observance of the rule of law as our primary objective. “Having acknowledged the immense work of the seventh National Assembly under the fourth alteration bill, the Senate expects you to swiftly consolidate the fourth thalteration bill for passage as it has already garnered national consensus. We expect that within the next few days you will forward the consolidated bill, have it gazetted and forwarded for first reading. “The Senate expects that a good liaison is forged early enough with the House of Representatives’ Committee on this all-important project, with a view to reducing areas of disagreements and conflicts. It is equally crucial that all stakeholders’ opinions are fully considered especially the executive,” Saraki said. In his remark, Ekweremadu said although the successful amendment of the 1999 constitution was only recorded in sixth National Assembly, he believed there was also a lot of insights to draw from all constitution amendment exercises. He argued that the Fourth Alteration Bill which was not assented to by former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, was one amendment bill which reflected the wishes of the Nigerian people. He listed key amendments carried out during the process to include strengthening of the local government administration, removal of presidential assent in constitution amendment, separation of the Office of the Attorney-General from that of the Minister of Justice, creation of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation separately from the Accountant-General of the Federal Government to enhance accountability, financial autonomy for state Houses of Assembly and provision of 30-day timeline for presidential and governors’ assent to bills passed by the national and state assemblies, among others. “Timing for constitutional amendment should be carefully determined as amendments in election periods close to the lifespan of the government in power tend to be undermined by the prevailing political atmosphere,” he said. He also emphasised the need for greater consensus and interface with the executive arm of government throughout the review process just as he stressed the need to “rationalise the alteration process by adopting a strategy to enhance synergy, concordance, and work plan, which both chambers are comfortable with to help reduce avoidable delays in the amendment process.”]]>