The Akwa Ibom State chapter of the Civil Liberties Organisation has called on the State House of Assembly to conduct a fresh public hearing on the transmitted constitution in the state, saying that the first exercise did not meet the expectations of the people.
This was contained in a statement by its chairman, Otuekong Franklyn Isong, and the Intergovernmental Committee chair, Barr. Godknows Njoku, made available to our correspondent in Uyo on Saturday.
According to the statement titled ‘CLO calls on AKHA to reorganise public hearing on amended constitution’, the organisation frowned at the manner in which the exercise was conducted.
The statement added that the manner of conduct clearly showed that the Assembly had a premeditated position to transmit to the National Assembly without the inputs of the people.
Part of the statement read, “The just concluded ‘Stakeholders Meeting’ put together by the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly Ad-hoc Committee on the Transmitted Constitution (Fifth Alteration) Bills, 2022 chaired by the Leader of the House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Udo Kierian Akpan, did not meet the expectations of Akwa Ibom people.
“The two days event which took place on Wednesday 13th July and Thursday 14th July 2022, was poorly organised and fell below the standard of all known parliamentary practices.
“The CLO observed that stakeholders invited to such an important parliamentary exercise were not given draft copies of the proposed amendments to the Nigerian Constitution prior to the event and were not given at the event either, hence it was practically impossible for stakeholders to make contributions that will form part of inputs from the people of Akwa Ibom State.
“The CLO further maintained that the whole exercise was conducted in a manner as though the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly had a premeditated position to transmit to the National Assembly without the inputs of Akwa Ibom people.”
The organisation, therefore, called on the state house of Assembly to organise a fresh exercise whose outcome would properly captures the wishes and aspirations of the people
It added, “We called on the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly to re-organise a public hearing whose outcome will reflect the wishes and aspirations of the Akwa Ibom people in the making of the Nigerian Constitution.”
