The South-West Governors’ Forum is pushing for the removal of the Federal Government’s exclusive control of the national minimum wage and stamp duty collection as well as decentralisation of the prisons and police structures.
The governors are also calling for the removal of gender in the Constitution.
These are part of their proposals presented to the South-West Caucus in the National Assembly as part of the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution.
The forum had last week met with members of the caucus in Abuja behind closed doors.
At the meeting were governors Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State and Chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum; Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, and Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State.
In the cover letter on the proposed constitution amendment signed by Akeredolu, a copy of which our correspondent obtained, the governors urged the lawmakers to push for the amendments “without prejudice to the submissions from the South-West states that are presently before the National Assembly.”
The letter, which was presented to the caucus, was dated July 5, 2021, and titled, ‘Presentation by South-West Governors’ Forum on the Review of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) ’.
It read in part, “We specifically invite the National Assembly to note the following areas of special interest to the South-West Governors’ Forum:
“The federal structure in governance and fiscal decentralisation: Resource allocation and management as well as fiscal federalism/decentralisation have remained contentious issues in previous constitution review exercises. The constitution review process places the National Assembly in a position to respond to the needs of states with a view to enabling them to discharge their constitutional responsibilities, including adequate provision of social and economic infrastructure for the citizenry.
“To achieve this in concrete terms, the principle of appropriateness, that is, which tier of government is more appropriate to deal with and effectively supervise a particular subject, should guide the sharing of powers between the federal and state governments.
“The items on the Exclusive (legislative) list should be substantially reduced to reflect the principles of appropriateness and state autonomy. In this regard, Section 4(4), Second Schedule of the 1999 Constitution is proposed for amendment.”
On state police, the governors said, “We propose that there should be a section of the Constitution that provides for the creation of the State Police Service. (A) State Houses of Assembly should have powers to enact laws for the establishment, recruitment, structure, operational control, finance and discipline of members of a state police.
“State police laws should include sufficient provisions for checks and balances as well as stipulate the respective jurisdictions of the federal and state police services to ensure a harmonious relationship between the two. Therefore, Section 153(1) dealing with the establishment of the Police Service Commission should be amended to introduce the States Police Service Commission.
“Recruitment into Nigeria Police should be done by the State Police Service Commission and in accordance with the laws made by state Houses of Assembly. Discipline of police officers above the rank of sergeant should be referred to the Federal Police Service Commission in order to check abuse of power at the state level.
“Appointment of state Commissioners of Police and officers below the rank of state commissioners should be made by the governors of the state on the recommendation of the State Police Service Commission.
“Appointment of officers above the rank of Assistant Inspector-General of Police to that of Inspector-General of Police should be made by the President, upon the recommendation of the Federal Police Service Commission.”
The governors further proposed that all state police commands should be licensed to procure arms on the approval of their request by the President, while the Office of the National Security Adviser should monitor the use of the arms procured by the state commands.
By Leke Baiyewu,
The Punch