Home FEATURES Restructuring Cannot Be Done By A Stroke Of The Pen, Speaker Dogara...

Restructuring Cannot Be Done By A Stroke Of The Pen, Speaker Dogara Reminds Agitators

Dogara 2Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara has reminded those agitating for the restructuring of Nigeria that it cannot be done by executive arm of the government just by a stroke of the pen.
“Some of the structural imbalances that we are talking about that need what they call restructuring cannot be corrected just by a stroke of the pen. Some of them are actually embedded in the provisions of the constitution.
“Even by pedestrians description of the function of government, the Executive cannot make laws; they cannot amend the constitution. They can only initiate the process in an Executive bill.”
Speaker Dogara who spoke to news men at the Presidential Villa, Abuja today, Thursday, said that the restructuring processes ultimately revolve within the powers of the legislature, adding:”so, even the committee that is set up by the leadership of All Progressives Congress (APC) on true federalism, by the time they conclude their work, most of the issues they come out with will require a kind of tinkering of the constitution.
“So, our feeling is that we should not just close the windows to the earnings of majority of our people. We should listen again to all the stakeholders, listen more to Nigerians and at the end of the day, we will come up with an exercise that meets the expectations and earnings of our Peoples.
“We will not just amend the constitution for the sake of amending. We will want the exercise to be very impactful.”
The Speaker, who led some members of the House of Representatives to meet with the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) said that they talked about some constitutional alterations in the National Assembly and most of the Bills the law makers are considering.
“Even though l am the Speaker, l can tell you that l can only speak where majority of our members have agreed upon. So it is a bit early for me to conclude. But this is a democracy and in a democracy, the majority matters.
“We are aware of the ongoing agitation in the country. Some are calling for restricting of the country and true Federalism. “This is an issue on the manifestos of the APC. It is our feeling as a very responsive and responsible representatives of the people to ensure that this debate is done. And I agree like l said before that the position of the President, that most of these matters and issues should be canvassed at the levels of the National Assembly.
“The only way we can get that done is to listen and listen and listen more.”[myad]