Constitution amendment begins 2012

Although the areas for amendments in the 1999 Constitution have been outlined by both chambers of the National Assembly, the exercise will not begin until January 2012.In readiness for the third alteration, both chambers have constituted their committees for the review of the constitution.While that of the House of Representatives has been inaugurated, the Senate has yet to formally set the ball rolling.Leader of the Senate, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, told our correspondent in a telephone interview that the 2011 Budget did not capture the constitution amendment.He said the item had been included in the 2012 budget, and confirmed that the process of amending the constitution would commence in the 2012 fiscal year.He said, "Besides the fact that the committee has not been inaugurated, the 2011 budget did not include the work of amending the constitution, and that has been the reason why not much is happening in the committee."Now that provision has been made for constitution amendment in the 2012 budget, work will definitely start next year."The last amendment exercise, which spanned between 2009 and 2010 cost the Federal Government N1bn.The fund was shared between both chambers when they decided to carry out the exercise separately.It was however gathered that some groups were making submissions to the National Assembly on the different aspects for amendment.The groups, it was learnt, include the Nigerian Governors Forum, the Nigerian Bar Association and the Nigerian Union of Journalists.The Senate, in its agenda for the new session, listed the creation of new states, state police, independent local government system, uniform minimum wage across the country, joint account between states and local governments, devolution of powers, state INEC and fiscal federalism as areas that would be considered in the amendment.
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