By Henry Umoru, Abuja

The President will, in the future, appoint his ministers within a time-frame, and the portfolios attached to the nominees, while submitting the list to the Senate for screening and confirmation, if a recommendation by the Joint Committee of the National Assembly on the Review of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) sails through.

Ahead of the 2019 general elections, the Committee also recommended independent candidacy for elective positions in polls.

The Committee, in its report  to the National Assembly, also recommended that the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice be split to allow for the Attorney General to be independent and financially autonomous.

While setting the time-frame within which the President should appoint his Ministers and form the Federal Executive Council, FEC, the report said the names of nominees must henceforth be accompanied with their portfolios to the Senate for screening and confirmation.

The recommendation also applies to states where governors must appoint commissioners within a time-frame and attach portfolios for screening and confirmation on his list to their states Houses of Assembly. It took President Muhammadu Buhari more than five months to appoint his ministers in 2015 and form his cabinet, while Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State only recently appointed his commissioner after more than two years in office.

The Committee said, “It has been observed that some Governors prefer to run as Sole Administrators in breach of the Constitution, while a President may take an unusually and unnecessarily long period to appoint Ministers. Also, the letter nominating Ministers/Commissioners shall be accompanied with their respective portfolios, while at least 35 per cent of the positions in the Federal/State Cabinet shall go to the women in line with the affirmative action.”

The separation of the  two offices of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, according to the Committee, also applies to states where there would be the Office of the Commissioner for Justice separate from the Attorney-General.

“Another is the alteration of Sections 150, 174, 195, 211, 318 and the Third Schedule to the Constitution to separate the Office of the Minister or Commissioner for Justice from that of the Attorney-General of the Federation and of States. The aim is to create the Office of the AG at both levels that are removed from partisan politics. The amendment seeks to make the Office of the AG very independent with financial autonomy and security of tenure with very rigid process for removal”, the Committee, chaired by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, recommended.

Presidential Assent

In the area of presidential assent, it altered Sections 58, 59, and 100 of the Constitution to provide 30-day time-frame for the President or Governor to assent to a bill or indicate his refusal of assent.

“In the amendment, where he/she (President or Governor) does not do so, it automatically becomes a law after 30 days. In America, it is two weeks”, the Committee said. “What obtains now is that the executive just files away any bill it does not like and allow it gather dust without indicating refusal of assent to enable the legislature address its concern or activate processes to override the veto.”

Sunday Vanguard gathered that another key amendment that scaled through at the Joint Retreat of the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on the Review of the 1999 Constitution held in Lagos last weekend and presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, was the granting of autonomy to local government councils.

The granting of Local Government Autonomy followed the amendment of Section 162 to abolition of State Joint Local Government Account so that each LG maintains an independent special account into which allocations accruing to it shall be directly paid from the Federation Account and the State Government.

The Constitution amendment seeks to provide a uniform three-year tenure for all the local governments. The tenures have been abused with some States reducing it to as low as one year.

There is also a provision to ensure that monies allocated to Local Government are used for the purposes for which they were meant, including, prompt and regular payment of primary school teachers salaries”

The Committee also altered Section 7 to provide that ONLY democratically constituted Local Governments can receive allocation from Federation Accounts and State Government and can be recognised by any authority or exercise any function exercisable by Local Governments in the Constitution.

There was also the Amendment of Sections 82 and 122 of the 1999 Constitution to reduce the period within which the President or the State Governor may authorise expenditure from the Consolidated Revenue Fund from six months to three months. Based on the current provisions, the President or Governor could make expenditures based on the provisions of the Appropriation Act (or Budget) of the previous year for up to six months, pending the approval of the budget for the current fiscal year.

The Committee said, “This is because Presidents and Governors are not always in a hurry to send in Appropriation Bill for an incoming fiscal year.”

Also in the amendment, “Section 121 is altered to provide for financial autonomy of the State Houses of Assembly by placing them on First Line Charge. That is to say that any amount standing to the credit of the State House of Assembly in the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the State shall be paid directly to the State Assembly.

Section 93 is also amended to provide for State Assembly Service Commission.

The Ekweremadu led Committee also approved amendment of Section 25 of the Constitution such that it guarantees a married woman right to choose her indigeneship either by birth or her place of birth for election or appointment purposes.

The Senate will  next week Tuesday  begin clause by clause debate on the reviewed 1999 Constitution, just as the Deputy Senate President and Chairman of the Senate Constitution amendment Committee,Senator Ike Ekweremadu, yesterday laid the report.

Ekweremadu  on Thursday  laid the report which contained items that have been adopted by the Joint session of the Committees of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Shortly after the deputy Senate President laid the report, Senate President Bukola Saraki mandated the Clerk of the Senate, Nelson Ayewor to as a matter of urgency, distribute copies of the report to the Senators to ensure that they all get it, read it, study it to enable them make useful and meaningful contributions next week when the debate would have commenced.

According to Saraki, the circulation of the report would enable Senators use the weekend to study the report when the clause by clause of the report commences  next week Tuesday.

Also briefing Journalists on the laid report, Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Sabi Abdullahi who noted that the constitution review has moved to another level.

Ekweremadu’s latest latest assignment as chairman, actually started January 13, 2016, just as he has held the position of head the amendment of the Nigerian Constitution for three consecutive National Assembly Sessions.

He was first appointed the chairman of the National Assembly Joint Committee on Constitution Review in 2008. That was in the 6th National Assembly. The idea of a Joint Committee was, however, later jettisoned and he emerged the chairman of Senate Committee on Constitution Review of the 6th Senate.

He ensured that there was the passage of the first sets of amendments to the Constitution in 2010.

Again in the 7th Session, Ekweremadu also served as the chairman of the Constitution Review Committee which led to the passage of the 2014 amendments to the Constitution that were submitted to the President early 2015.