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Governors frustrating Constitution amendment because of ‘LG autonomy’ – Omo-Agege
The Chairman of the Senate Adhoc Committee on Constitution Review, Ovie Omo-Agege, has disclosed that some State governors were bent on frustrating the amendment of Constitution because of the enshrinement of the local Government autonomy.
Omo-Agege stated this at a news briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, saying that 44 bills out 66 earlier recommended were transmitted to the 36 State Houses of Assembly, but only 11 responded and forwarded their resolutions.
He regretted after six months that the bills were transmitted to the Houses of Assembly, about 25 of them were yet to respond, a development he described as “hands of Esau, but the voice of Jacob.”
The States that responded according to the Deputy Senate President are,.Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Delta, Edo, Kaduna, Katsina, Kogi, Lagos, Ogun and Osun, adding that they have performed their Constitutional responsibilities.
He added that the Speakers of 24 Houses of Assembly, through the Conference of Speakers of Houses of Assembly, have written a letter to the National Assembly Joint Committee on Constitution Review setting conditions upon which they would pass the bills, adding that governors are behind the action of the Speakers.
States that have vowed not to pass the Bills include Enugu, Imo, Kwara, Cross River, Rivers, Ondo, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Oyo, Taraba, Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Ebonyi, Zamfara, Plateau, Benue, Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Ekiti and Bayelsa.
Present at the briefing were the Senate Leader Abdullahi Ibrahim Gobir, Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu, Deputy Chief Whip, Aliyu Abdullahi, Minority Whip Chukwuka Utazi, Adamu Aliero and Suleiman Abdu Kwari.
Omo-Agege said: “It is most disheartening to inform you that only 11 State Houses of Assembly have demonstrated their independence and loyalty to the constitution regarding the 44 bills. Twenty four State Houses of Assembly have yet to consider and vote on these bills.
”More worrisome is that while we are still expecting the receipt of the resolutions of the remaining Houses of Assembly, we received a letter from the Conference of Speakers of State Assemblies informing the National Assembly that the remaining states will not act on the 44 Bills, unless the National Assembly passes four new Bills they have proposed in the letter.
He said the National Assembly is not averse “to acting on any proposed Bill or memoranda appropriately tabled before it, at any time in its life.
“However, it is legally inappropriate for the Conference of Speakers to use the four Bills as a quid pro quo to act on the 44 Bills the National Assembly 44 Bills transmitted.”
“Although the Conference of Speakers did not allude to it in their letter, we are aware of the undue interference with legislative processes and the political capture of some State Houses of Assembly by some state governors….
“This interference has been ramped up, especially in opposition to the Bills granting financial and administrative autonomy to local governments.”
He appealed to stakeholders to prevail on the Conference of Speakers to withdraw their threat to truncate the constitution amendment process.
Responding to questions after his address, Omo-Agege insisted that the Constitution amendment process by the ninth National Assembly was not dead.
He added that of the 44 bills before the State Houses of Assembly, “the most fundamental to a lot of us is the local government autonomy, even if they shoot down every other Bill as not being important to them.”
The conference was organised by the National Assembly Joint Committee on Constitution Review.
However, neither the Chairman, House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on Constitution Review, Ahmed Wase, nor any member of the committee from the Green Chamber was present at the briefing.
Omo-Agege explained that he had Wase’s blessings to go ahead with the conference.
Meanwhile, the 9th National Assembly has seven months to the end of session and given the tedious legislative processes in the Constitutional amendment, it remains to be seen, if the amendment will succeed.
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has expressed his heartfelt condolences to the Governor of Katsina State, Malam Dikko Umar Radda, over the passing of his mother, Hajiya Safarau Umar Baribari.
In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Edwin Olofu, Dr. Ganduje described Hajiya Safarau’s death as a profound loss that has left a deep void in the hearts of her family, friends, and the people of Katsina State.
Extending his sympathies, the APC National Chairman condoled with Governor Radda, the bereaved family, and the entire people of Katsina State during this difficult time.
He acknowledged the remarkable contributions of the late Hajiya Safarau and prayed for Almighty Allah (SWT) to grant her eternal rest in Jannatul Firdaus while strengthening the family to bear this irreplaceable loss.
Dr. Ganduje urged Governor Radda and others affected to find comfort in the cherished memories and enduring legacy of the deceased.
Reaffirming the APC’s support, the former Kano State governor assured the people of Katsina State of the party’s solidarity in their time of grief and prayed that Allah (SWT) grant the departed soul Al-Jannah Firdaus. Ameen.
The wife of Senator Isah Jibrin (Echocho), Hajia Aishat has offered cash and food items worth millions of naira to widows and vulnerable women across Dekina local government Councils, promises to take similar gesture across the nine local government in Kogi East.
The exercise which was tagged: “Widows Empowerment”, saw the Senator’s wife distributing cash and food items to cushion the effect of Ramadan.
Items distributed are bags of rice bags of salt, cartons of seasoning, maggi etc, which were evenly distributed to widows and vulnerable women across party lines.
A beneficiary who spoke with our correspondent at Odu in Dekina Local Government Council, Hon Fitumi thanked Hajia for her continuous effort in coming through for widows and vulnerable regularly.
She acknowledged similar gesture by Senator Isah Jibrin (Echocho), a fortnight ago at Ankpa when youths in their numbers from three Local Government Areas were trained in Agriculture and empowered, stressing that people are now living testimony to the effort of the lawmaker.
“”We are aware of several intervention projects, empowerment and developmental projects of Senator Echocho and we are not surprised seeing Hajia toeing the similar path.
“The distribution of food items and cash today is not only a rekindling of hope to the beneficiaries, but an encouragement that despite their condition, they were not forgotten.
Hajia Labran, and other APC Women leaders who spoke on behalf of women, applauded Hajia Aisha Echocho and pray Allah to strengthen her to carry on, urged others to emulate her sustainable initiatives.
The women advised other political office holders to emulate what is good and just, which they believed would strengthen the party.
As part of the activities to celebrate the golden anniversary of the University of Calabar, the wife of the President of the Senate, Mrs Ekaette Unoma Godswill Akpabio was on Saturday, March 22, 2025 conferred with an honorary doctorate degree in Education Management.
The ceremony held at the main campus of the institution in Calabar, Cross River State also saw the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike awarded the honorary doctorate degree in Law.
Other awardees included Major General Moses Bisong Obi (rtd) (Doctor of Peace and Conflict Studies) and Supreme Court Justice, Emmanuel Akomaye Obi (Doctor of Law).
In her acceptance speech after the conferment by the 15th Emir of Kano and Chancellor of the University, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, the wife of the Senate President, Mrs Akpabio thanked the Governing Council and Management of the University for finding her worthy of the honour.
A statement by the Special Assistant on Media/communication to the President of the Senate, Anietie Ekong quoted Mrs Akpabio as saying “I am happy to be honoured with this award from the prestigious University of Calabar that I have heard so much about from my dear husband, an alumnus of this great institution.
“I was wondering when I will join him as a great Malabress and that day has come and I am grateful to the University for this honour,” she said.
Mrs Akpabio promised to work with other awardees especially the Minister of the FCT to provide infrastructural assistance to the university.
In a citation the University extolled Mrs Akpabio for her philanthropic and humanitarian efforts towards uplifting the lives of women and the vulnerable of the society through her non governmental organisation, the Family Life Enhancement Initiative.
She was also recognized as a Champion of women’s rights and as one who used her position as the First Lady of Akwa Ibom State to fight for the inclusion of more women in governance.
On his part, Chief Wike said he was honoured to be among the recipients of award. He extolled the Visitor of the University, President Bola Tinubu for working tirelessly to promote tertiary education in the country.
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