By Jake Aimuan
Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, has stressed the need for Nigerians to recognize the “fierce urgency” to necessary adjustments to the legal framework for governance, through a review of the country’s Constitution.
The government made the assertion in his welcome remarks at the Two-Day North-West Zonal Public Hearing on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, held at General Hassan Usman Katsina House, Kaduna, on Wednesday, which the governor also declared open.
He noted that today’s realities in the country required concerted effort by the people across the country in making reasoned contribution to the constitution review process, being undertaken by the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution.
Challenges confronting the nation are numerous and widespread and permeate all segments of the country, ranging from social, economic, political to insecurity, the governor noted, saying the country could not afford to shy away from taking full advantage of the opportunity to realign the legal framework for ensuring the rule of law and issues of people’s welfare, public order and safety of the people.
El-Rufai said, “There is a fierce urgency to the need to make necessary and significant adjustments to the legal framework for governing our country. We have no other option but to make pragmatic choices, rooted in a binding national consensus, on the best structure to secure this country, promote its progress and development and advance the welfare and prosperity of our people.
“As a nation, we are facing one of our most trying times. We have profound social problems. Our economy is struggling. Across the country, citizens harbor widespread fears and anxiety about their security. Insecurity has created a febrile atmosphere, worsened by a barrage of extreme rhetoric, ethnic profiling, and fake news that seeks to exploit the distress, pains and misery of our people to further separatist and divisive ends.”
He said that the onus was political leaders and other stakeholders to help restore confidence in the people in the task to build a new nation founded in unity and mutual understanding irrespective of ethnic, political, religious or cultural diversity.
“Rather than wallow in strife and division, we can mobilize our people, across the diversity of Nigeria, in a joint endeavor for peace, progress and prosperity. It is in our hands to build Nigeria as a strong country that is secure enough to protect all who live in it, progressive enough to promote equal opportunity and common citizenship, and flexible enough to empower sub-nationals.
“We need consensus on constitutional and political arrangements that prioritize security, democracy and progress,” he noted.
Nonetheless, the governor underscored the point that the remarks were his personal opinion and not intended usurp the position of Kaduna State, saying the state’s position paper was in black and white already in the form of a memorandum.
“The views I am expressing in these remarks are mine as a citizen and not that of the Kaduna State Government, other Governors or citizens of our State. Kaduna State is submitting its official memorandum, while other stakeholders will appear before you for their own contributions.”
The governor, however, threw light on some critical issues in the Kaduna State memorandum to the Senate Committee on the exercise, asking for the scrapping of the Police Service Comission which he regards as “a cog in the wheel” even as he made a case for federal, state and local government police systems.
“First is the question of our security arrangements. The reality of our security situation today requires that Nigeria must strengthen its military and security agencies. This includes decentralizing the police to enable the states to exercise effective control in securing their residents and communities. The challenges of these times conclusively demonstrate that centralized policing arrangements are grossly inaccurate. We need to have Federal, State and Community Police, with each granted sufficient powers to make them effective in securing the areas assigned to them and cooperating closely with each other.
“Nigeria has many ungoverned spaces and increasingly brazen criminal elements. Our security agencies need a surge in numbers, equipment, and technology, as well as structure.
“Those expressing concerns about the ability of the states to bear the cost of policing should realize that apart from the payment of salaries by the Federal Government, most of the operational and capital costs of the Nigeria Police are borne by State and Local Governments. These include vehicles, fuel, construction of police stations, provision of communications equipment and overheads. The fear of abuse of State Police by sub-national governments is misplaced for at least two reasons – the levels of insecurity across the country and the near helplessness of the Police makes addressing the need to put more police officers on the ground a greater priority than any other thing.
In addition to transferring Policing to the Concurrent List, there is the need to alter the Constitution to remove the existence of, and any reference, to the Police Service Commission. This Commission, which is one of the innovations of the 1999 Constitution, is an unnecessary cog in the wheel of policing in Nigeria.
“Secondly, it is time to vest control of mineral resources, including oil and gas and solid minerals, in the states, which will in turn pay royalties and taxes to the Federation Account. States already control land within their territories, courtesy of the Land Use Act, which is incorporated into the Constitution by reference. One of the reasons why mining has not quite taken off in our country is because of the dichotomy and total disconnect between the federal institution that issues licenses for mining and the state agencies that ultimately control not only the land and title thereto, but any approval to undertake any development on the land.
“Thirdly, we need to restore to the states powers to establish, staff and run their own judiciary up to appellate level. It is an anomaly to have a National Judicial Council appointing high court judges for states. This should be the responsibility of State Judicial Councils.
“The constitutional amendment should clarify that the states can establish courts to exercise jurisdiction at first instance, or on appeal on matters for which the states can make laws. In essence, I am suggesting that judges of State High Courts, Sharia Courts of Appeal and Customary Courts of Appeal should be nominated by the State Judicial Council, subject to confirmation by the House of Assembly.
“States should also be enabled to establish State Courts of Appeal, similar to what we used to have at the regional level under the 1963 Republican Constitution. The State Court of Appeal will entertain appeals from State High Courts, Customary and Sharia Courts of Appeal, on matters on which the State House of Assembly is empowered by the Constitution to make laws. This arrangement will make our judicial processes faster, encourage competition, deepen our jurisprudence and restore citizens’ trust. It will also significantly reduce the burden on the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
“Fourthly, the Constitution should empower each state to decide the model of democratic local government that best suits it. Nigeria is a federation of the 36 states and the Federal Government. Listing the 774 Local Governments in the Constitution and trying to establish for them direct relations with the Federal Government violates the spirit of federalism. Each state should decide how many local governments it can efficiently run and fund for better governance and delivery of public goods. Each state should decide what typology of local governance fits its historical, cultural and administrative circumstances, but the resulting framework must be democratic, with periodic elections at no longer than four year intervals.
“Adopting this proposal means that the revenue allocation formula will specify what proportion of federation transfers is for the local governments, and the State House of Assembly will legislate the vertical and horizontal formulae for sharing between them under the supervision and control of the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission. No state government shall be allowed under any guise to take control of local government funds, and the Constitution should entrench safeguards and sanctions, including withholding state funds due from the Federation Account in the event of any reported diversions, impoundment or misappropriation.
“Fifthly, some of our Committee’s recommendations are clear, not controversial and simply conform with common sense. For instance, why should the Federal Government be enabled by the Constitution to fix a national minimum wage that it can afford but most of the states, has been unable to implement? For the records, Kaduna State is the first government to pay the national minimum wage approved in 2019, with consequential adjustments of up to 66% for most state civil servants. Our compliance with this national law makes it easier for us to say what I am about to say. It is a truism that the cost of living varies widely across the nation so a federal minimum wage cannot fit all. A minimum wage is certainly desirable to protect citizens from exploitation, but it should be on the Concurrent List due to variations in cost of living and ability to pay. This alteration will enable the Federal Government to legislate a minimum wage for federal employees and those that reside and work in the FCT, while for instance, Zamfara State legislates a minimum wage different from tax-endowed Lagos State or oil-rich Rivers State, as examples.
“Finally, transferring items like railways and prisons to the Concurrent List offers opportunities for both State and Federal Governments to collaborate concurrently to ensure we have light rail systems in our towns and cities, and many more prisons in the states to reduce the current congestions in our federal correctional facilities. Many Nigerians are not old enough to know that most of the correctional facilities of the Federal Government today were built by the regional governments and native authorities of pre- and post-independent Nigeria. They were taken over by military fiat after the tragic events of 1966.
“In addition to some of the alterations to the Constitution listed above, our Committee also identified legislative interventions that the National Assembly can more easily undertake to achieve the goal of a truly balanced, equitable and fair federal structure.”
El-Rufai, however, warned against unrealistic enthusiasm that the Constitution would provide the magic wand for solving all our national challenges, notwithstanding the vast potentials for building a new, stronger, prosperous and sustainable nation.
“I am of the strong conviction that we need to devolve powers in our country to rebalance our federation for better governance. But I do not share the view that restructuring or devolution is a silver bullet that will solve all our problems overnight, given the gravity of our multi-pronged challenges. Adjustments to our Constitution will not solve all our problems as a nation. However, it will help us solve some immediate problems, and provide a platform for future leaders to resolve the medium- and longer-term issues.”
