Constitutional Amendment Is National Assembly’s Responsibility – Buhari

BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his administration is willing to play a critical role in the constitutional amendment process without usurping the powers of the National Assembly in this regard.

He specifically said that while the government is not averse to constitutional reform as part of nation building process, it must however be understood by Nigerians that the primary responsibility for constitutional amendments lies with the National Assembly.

President Buhari, who stated these in his Democracy Day broadcast to the nation on Saturday, noted that the arm of government responsible for constitutional changes has concluded the preliminary stages of amending and improving the constitution in a way that the majority of Nigerians will be happy with.

He said that as a nation we have come very far from where we started and we are getting incrementally closer to where we ought to be, adding that overcoming the present challenges is but one of a necessary process that we have to undergo as a nation so that we can come out stronger.

In the words of Buhari; “The day I joined the Nigerian Army I was prepared to lay down my life for Nigeria. As your President, I remain ever committed to upholding and defending Nigeria’s corporate existence.

“In adhering to the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy notably section 14(2)(b) I shall do all within my power to ensure that the Security and welfare of the people remain the primary purpose of government.

“I have, throughout my tenure, provided the security agencies with all they require relative to available resources and will be providing more as the dynamics unfold to put an end to our security problems,” he said.

Commenting on his vision of pulling 100 million poor Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years, President Buhari said that the administration has commenced action on it which can be seen in the National Social Investment Programme, a first in Africa and one of the largest in the world where over 32.6m beneficiaries are taking part.

He said; “We now have a National Social register of poor and vulnerable households, identified across 708 local government areas, 8,723 wards and 86,610 communities in the 36 States and the FCT.

”Our conditional cash transfer program has benefited over 1.6 million poor and vulnerable households comprising more than 8 million individuals. This provides a monthly stipend of N10,000 per household.

“I have also recently approved the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy Plan that augments existing plans to further reduce poverty in Nigeria”.