By Kelvin Ebiri, Port Harcourt09
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has described the planned amendment of the 1999 Constitution by the National Assembly as an exercise in futility.
The governor also blamed the executive and legislative arms of government for the governance issues confronting the country.
He made the assertion during a special banquet in honour of the retiring President of Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa at the Government House, Port Harcourt.
Wike observed that the 9th National Assembly’s intent to tinker with the Constitution would amount to nothing, just like other previous exercises.
“Every time, there is always a constitutional amendment, but in the end, nothing comes out of it. Even the one that has just started will not yield anything different,” he said.
To buttress this, he noted that even when the 8th National Assembly passed the Electoral Act that recognised the use of card reader in the election, President Muhammadu Buhari refused to give his assent.
Wike said Nigeria would have made tremendous progress, if the executive and legislative arms of government had always worked together. He, however, commended the judiciary for remaining the most outstanding arm of government in the country.
He said: “This country is having challenges because of the executive and legislative arms of government. If the executive and legislative arms do what is right, the country will move forward. Because of politics, the National Assembly fails to do what is right. When the executive and legislative arms of government commit errors, they pass the buck to the Judiciary.”
Justice Bulkachuwa said she was in Rivers State as part of her valedictory process, which is a tradition of the Court of Appeal. She explained that she had been in Asaba, Awka, and Enugu, where she held her first valedictory session and would be visiting Kano, Gombe, Yola, and Ilorin as part of the retirement process, which would end in Abuja.
Culled from Guardian
