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Ezekwesili Slams N’Assembly’s Constitutional Amendment As Charade

Published

4 months ago

July 31, 2025

Editor

A former Minister of Education and Chief Executive Officer of Human Capital Africa, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, on Thursday, knocked the National Assembly over its efforts on the ongoing constitutional amendment, describing it as a charade and a conduit pipe to waste public funds.

Ezekwesili equally lamented that hijack of the nation’s political space and, by extension, that of the continent by a set of criminal enterprise gangs who now sit at the table and slice governance in the direction that best suits them while the larger interest of the people suffers.

The former minister stated this on Wednesday while delivering her keynote address on “Reworking Nigeria’s Federalism: Perspectives on Restructuring and Fiscal Federalism” at the 7th Penpushing anniversary and annual lecture.

Ezekwesili said that rather than acceding to the people’s demand for a fresh constitution that will help address all the imbalances and the inequalities that defined the current constitution, the National Assembly decided to embark on a venture that will do little or nothing to help address the need to restructure the country along the practice of true federalism.

She explained that the agitation for secession by some part of the country, the problem of insecurity, the challenge of unemployment and poverty, and maladministration as a whole will only be resolved with a new constitution that prioritises devolution of powers, justice, equity, and fairness to all irrespective of tribes and ethnicity.

The former minister has equally called on the media to be at the vanguard of demanding a new constitution that is powered by the people and will ultimately serve the progress and development of the country.

Ezekwesili said, “The ongoing constitutional amendment cannot work, it cannot address our problem, it is a charade and sheer waste of resources. The demand for a new constitution is a matter of life and death

“For instance, when the engineer tells us that the foundation of a building is structurally defective, is it not to take the whole building down because it will continue to constitute an endangerment to the people.

“You won’t say, Oga, can we just do some little adjustment to the building, no, it won’t work, and this is same with nation building. So this expensive charade that the National Assembly is embarking on and spending money on won’t take us anywhere.

“The media should take the front seat and be at the vanguard of a demand for new constitution. We must have a constitutional conference that enables the people of this country to have honest conversation around things that will make us make progress and make Nigeria work for all of us.

“If there is anything that will come out of this annual lecture it must be that the media should be at the vanguard of a push for a constitutional conference, one that will enable the constituent part of this country, a constituent assembly elected by the people, they go, they sit, they have the discussion on the basis of the issues that makes fiscal federal system of government to work and come out with issues that are eligible for constitution which is put before the people to vote in form of referendum.

“This is what Kenya did after almost collapsing, and since then, you never hear them talking about break-up, they will talk about the need for good leaders”

Ezekwesili added that there is nothing mysterious about good governance, as it has been done in other parts of the world and could be replicated here too in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

She disclosed, “There is nothing that is mysterious about good governance, this thing has been done elsewhere and could be replicated here in the country.

“Unfortunately, today’s politics has been hijacked, what we now have is a criminal enterprise gang and this is not only in Nigeria but across the continent. A criminal enterprise gang has taken hold of politics and excluded the society and these people just sit at the table and just slice governance in the direction that suits them but that must not be made to continue.”

Ezekwesili explained that there is a strong connection between the quality of African politics and its economic performance and prosperity, adding that this sad reality may, however, not change for a long time to come if nothing is done to improve the quality of its politics and the political leaders.

The activist said that the true practice of fiscal federalism will foster greater regional autonomy and collaboration, satisfy the demand for self-determination without breaking up the country, boost productivity and accountability, and improve leadership capabilities, among other things.

Also speaking at the annual lecture, the immediate past Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Sarafadeen Ishola, said that the country’s current federalism is adopted in principle but suffers in practice and neither delivers the autonomy expected by the federating units nor promotes the developmental competition required for national growth.

Ishola, who chaired the occasion, said that true federalism is not only about devolution of power but about responsible governance, institutional clarity, fiscal equity, and citizen-driven accountability.

He added that Nigerians must therefore not behold restructuring as a sectional agenda but must embrace it as a national rebirth strategy to address some of the challenges hindering effective management of the country.

Speaking at the event, the founder of Penpushing Media, an online platform, Mr Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji, said that the essence of the annual lecture is aimed at elevating conversation around issues that could further enhance the greatness of the country.

Kayode-Adedeji said the online news medium has continued to grow in leaps and bound, contributing significantly to changing the narrative of the country through qualitative reportage and dose of philanthropic gestures that are deliberately designed to uplift humanity.

He explained that as part of the focus of the online news medium to contribute to the growth of mass communication undergraduates, the news platform has helped to train over 80 students from various institutions, while it has also instituted an annual award honour for the best graduating mass communication students in the higher institutions.

There were also goodwill messages from former Presidential Spokesman to the Late Mohammadu Buhari, Mr Femi Adesina, the Chairman of Editorial Board of Penpushing Media and former Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists, Lagos State Council, Deaconess Funke Fadugba; and the Chairman, Planning Committee, Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, among others.
(PUNCH)

News

Reps Raise Alarm Over N1.65trn In PIA Funds Denied To N’Delta

Published

2 hours ago

November 28, 2025

Editor

The House of Representatives Committee on South South Development Commission (SSDC) has raised alarm over Nigeria’s failure to implement two key Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) funds, saying it has denied the Niger Delta an estimated N1.65 trillion earmarked for environmental cleanup and decommissioning of obsolete oil facilities since 2021.

Chairman of the committee, Hon. Julius Gbabojör Pondi, disclosed this on Tuesday during an interactive session at the National Assembly, which examined the continued dormancy of the Abandonment and Decommissioning Fund and the Environmental Remediation Fund, both mandated under the PIA.

The session brought together representatives from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), SSDC, and the supervising Ministries of Petroleum and Environment, with the aim of establishing a coordinated framework to activate the funds.

According to Pondi, the data presented to the committee indicate that the Abandonment and Decommissioning Fund should have accrued between N850 billion and N1.1 trillion, while the Environmental Remediation Fund should have amassed between N420 billion and N550 billion if properly operationalised since 2021.

He described the delay as a serious breach of environmental justice and a threat to sustainable development in the Niger Delta, noting that the funds were intended to hold oil and gas companies fully accountable for decommissioning outdated infrastructure and rehabilitating degraded ecosystems.

“These funds were created to prevent the shifting of environmental liabilities to local communities. Yet, four years after the enactment of the PIA, they remain dormant, leaving farmlands polluted, rivers contaminated, fisheries depleted, and communities exposed to health hazards,” Pondi said.

The lawmaker criticised the lack of transparency and operational progress from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), calling it a demonstration of institutional incapacity.

He warned that continued failures could prompt the creation of a new dedicated agency to ensure proper administration of the funds.

Pondi reaffirmed the committee’s commitment to oversight and insisted that legislative instruments must deliver tangible benefits to host communities.

“The National Assembly cannot continue to look away while environmental liabilities multiply and communities suffer. The era of shifting cleanup responsibilities to impoverished communities must end,” he said.

In other news, drama erupted on the floor of the House of Representatives on Tuesday as the Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, launched a stinging critique of President Bola Tinubu’s administration over the worsening insecurity across the country.

He declared that Parliament should be shut down if the government fails to restore order and peace in volatile areas.

Doguwa, who spoke during a special plenary session convened to review Nigeria’s national security situation, said the nation was engaged in a full-scale war against humanity, insisting that the government’s best efforts were no longer sufficient.

While acknowledging ongoing operations by security agencies, the former Majority Leader said President Tinubu’s government had fallen short of its constitutional responsibility to protect lives and property, especially in the North, where he described the situation as devastating, unspeakable and tragically unbearable.

He warned that the deepening security crisis marked by banditry, kidnappings, terrorism and attacks on communities risked derailing political stability ahead of the 2027 general elections, arguing that there was now a “calculated attempt to demoralise the Nigerian state.”

“Mr. Speaker, I am therefore prepared to say that no matter what the government does—my government, led by Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the APC government, my party and despite all the submissions and efforts of the security agencies through their respective chairmen, I want to say that yes, the government is doing its best, the security agencies are doing their best, but with every sense of responsibility and without any fear of equivocation, their best is not good enough.

“It is not good enough because the security situation in Nigeria today is horrific. Mr. Speaker, our security situation is tragic. The situation, especially in the North where I come from, is devastating.

“Our security situation in Nigeria today is unspeakable. It is unspeakable because our people are left ravaged in tension, fear, and despair, all because we are lacking in institutional and collective responsibility as a government. Mr. Speaker, the fact remains the same.

“I like that everyone of you here says that the responsibility of every democratic or elected government or military governments is fundamentally the security of the lives and property of its own people.

“Mr. Speaker, what we have today is like a failed security system. In my opinion, it is like, to quote the popular Bob Marley in his song from the 1980s, when he was saying: war in the North, war in the West, war in the East, and war down South.”
(GUARDIAN)

News

FG Enlists NYSC Members In Campaign To Fight Small Arms, Light Weapons Proliferation In Northeast

Published

3 hours ago

November 28, 2025

Editor

The Federal Government has charged the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members across the Northeast sub-region to play an active role in curbing the spread of Small Arms and Light Weapons, SALW, across the region.

Northeast Zonal Director of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, (NCCSALW) under the Office of the National Security Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Maj.-Gen. Abubakar Adamu (Rtd), gave the charge yesterday at the NYSC Orientation Camps in Potiskum, Yobe state and Maiduguri, Borno state.

Maj:-Gen Adamu (Rtd), represented by Mr. Aminu Saleh Mohammed, Assistant Director of Strategic Communication and Information of the Centre, said the active involvement of youth, especially corps members, would significantly help to tackle insecurity.

He explained that the NCCSALW, established in 2021 under the Office of the National Security Adviser, serves as the institutional framework for regulating and controlling Small Arms and Light Weapons in Nigeria.

While sensitizing the corps members on camp in Yobe state on the dangers of the proliferation of arms and weapons on the society, the Zonal Director said such weapons fuels banditry, kidnapping, cultism, political thuggery, insurgency and other crimes.

“When you get to your places of primary assignment, be good ambassadors of your parents, NYSC, your state and yourself by reporting anyone in possession or involved in the fabrication of small arms and light weapons,” he urged.

According to him, Small Arms and Light Weapons hinders development, increases black marketers of arms and ammunition, causes undue exposure of young people to armed-violence, heightens transborder insecurity, create fears in the minds of the people and many other vices in the society.

He called on all parents and guardians to take full responsibility of good child upbringing in all ramification, educate children on tolerance and peaceful co-existence and warn against violence.

He advised them to also observe and closely monitor behavioral changes for prompt correction.

Similarly, at the NYSC Orientation camp in Maiduguri, the Centre’s Northeast boss called on scholars and clergymen to teach and sensitize their congregations on the dangers of proliferation of SALW, tolerance and peaceful co-existence.

“They should caution their congregation against the use of illicit SALW, facilitate reconciliation among extremists and victims for successful reintegration and surrendering,” he said.

He also called on the Northeast Coordinators of NYSC to partner with the Centre to establish a Small Arms and Light Weapons Community Development Service (CDS) group in the states, similar to one already operational in Borno.

In their separate reactions, the NYSC Coordinators in Yobe and Borno states, Mr. Edison Ohuoha and Mallam Nasir Bello, welcomed the proposal, assuring that efforts would be made to set up the CDS group to support the campaign.

They promised to work closely with the Centre in order to fight and eradicate the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons within the region by carrying out sensitization in strategic locations.

News

Coup: ECOWAS Suspends Guinea-Bissau

Published

5 hours ago

November 28, 2025

Editor

The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, has suspended Guinea-Bissau from all its decision-making bodies following the military takeover in the country.

The suspension was announced after an emergency virtual meeting of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council, MSC, late Thursday.

The session was chaired by Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio, who also leads the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government.

In its communiqué, the MSC said the decision was taken in line with the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance (2001), stressing that Guinea-Bissau would remain suspended until full and effective constitutional order is restored.

The coup unfolded on Wednesday, barely three days after the country’s contentious presidential and legislative elections.

The mutinous officers halted the electoral process, shut the nation’s borders and stopped the release of official results.

ECOWAS strongly condemned the takeover, describing the detention of several individuals, including incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, widely projected to win the election, as unacceptable.

“The MSC condemns in the strongest terms the coup d’état perpetrated on 26 November 2025 and calls for the immediate restoration of constitutional order,” the statement read.

It also rejected any arrangement that would legitimise the disruption of the democratic process or undermine the will of the people of Guinea-Bissau.

The regional bloc demanded the prompt release of all detained political actors, including President Embaló, electoral officials, and other arrested figures.

ECOWAS also insisted that the electoral commission be allowed to announce the results of Sunday’s vote without interference.

Despite regional pressure, the coup leaders have named the army’s chief of staff, General Horta N’Tam, as transitional head of state for a one-year period.