Why National Assembly rejected devolution of powers — Saraki

Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, yesterday assured Nigerians that the defeated bill on devolution of powers still has chances of being passed again as part of the amendments to the 1999 Constitution after both chambers of the National Assembly resume from their annual recess, which commenced last Friday. 

Saraki gave the assurance in Ilorin, Kwara State, while speaking with newsmen shortly after receiving a delegation of the #NotTooYoungToRun# group in the state yesterday.

  The delegation, which was led by the state coordinator, Olasupo Abideen, had visited the Senate President to express gratitude over the passage of the Not Too Young To Run bill and solicit his support for the remaining parts of the proposal by the Joint Committee on Constitution Amendment.

The Senate President told the journalists that the defeat of the devolution of powers bill was as a result of the current wave of hate speeches across the country, noting that the current mistrust among Nigerians contributed to the failure of the bill.

 He said some stakeholders had misunderstood the intent of the proposed amendments in the bill as a clever way of introducing restructuring and were not ready to back such a move without proper consultations with their constituents.

  He said the level of distrust and suspicion among Nigerians at this point in time was unimaginable and had created division along regional lines in the way people voted on the constitutional issues.

“This is expected with the level of agitations in the country and the way opinion leaders are helping to accentuate hate speeches and emphasising issues that could pitch one area against the other. The votes in the National Assembly reflect the state of the country today. People voted to reflect the position of their constituents. However, the National Assembly is still the best forum for uniting the country and mending our fault lines. That is why I believe there is still the opportunity to re-examine important issues like devolution of powers to states with a view to changing the present position on it,” he said.