The House of Representatives is set to vote on the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution on December 10, according to Benjamin Kalu, the Deputy Speaker.
Kalu, who is also chairman of the House Committee on Constitution Review, said on Thursday that the Green chamber may dedicate three consecutive legislative days next week to conclude debates on the proposed amendments before taking a final position in the following week.
He informed that the House had already completed the technical work required for this stage of the review, and the committee is now preparing the final set of harmonised documents to be laid before members for consideration.
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“We are going to continue another set of debates next week, but this time it will be on the Constitution review. We will confirm if we are taking this decision. We are looking at the upper week to be when we will vote on the Constitution, which is about December 10, before we wind down this session”, he said.
The Deputy Speaker explained that the committee had concluded its technical responsibilities and would forward the consolidated documents to the House ahead of next week’s debate.
According to him, the upcoming sessions will prepare lawmakers for the decisive vote slated for the second week of December.
A total of 87 bills seeking to alter the 1999 Constitution are under consideration. They cover electoral reforms, judicial reforms, and fiscal changes.
More specifically, the proposals seek to create additional seats for women, new states and local governments, establish state police, and grant full autonomy to local government councils, among several others.
