South-West Govs to Present Common Position on Constitutional Amendment

South-West Govs to Present Common Position on Constitutional Amendment

Governors of the 6 states in south-west Nigeria on Wednesday held a meeting in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital to deliberate on harnessing their positions on issues being considered by the National Assembly in the constitutional amendment process.

Present at the meeting were Governors Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Akinwumi Ambode (Lagos), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun); Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo) and Ayodele Fayose (Ekiti).

The National Assembly had in November transmitted the details of sections of the 1999 Nigerian constitution to be considered for amendment to the state assemblies for their ratification.

Amending the Nigerian constitution requires two-thirds of the 36 state assemblies across the country to concur on any particular issue before it can be amended.

Governor Akeredolu who spoke on behalf of the other 5 governors after the meeting said the south-west region is home to the Yoruba race comprising of a united population with the same destiny, and party politics would not be allowed to divide them on such an issue.

Akeredolu, Ajimobi, Aregbesola and Ambode as well Ogun state governor, Ibikunle Amosun who was absent at the meeting, are all members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) while Ekiti governor, Fayose, is a major voice within the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“As you can see, all of us are one from Oduduwa. All of us, being brothers, are presenting the same position on matters that are of common interest of all of us and we are doing it together.

“If you are talking about specific issues, one of the issues that we tried to look at is the issue of constitution (amendment). There are many things that we have endorsed, but it is so clear to us that there is more on the issue of amendment of the constitution.

“And as expected, we know what will be our interest.

“So, we want to send a common position to our Houses of Assembly and other stakeholders who we believe can come along with us on the issues that we have agreed on, that we believe that are of our common interest,” Akeredolu said.

The Ondo state governor however failed to give specific details of the issues which the south-west governors reached a consensus on their proposed amendment.

According to The Nation, all state assemblies are expected to submit their records of votes on the 33 items being deliberated upon for amendment to the National Assembly in the first quarter of 2018.