To attract women and youths interest for the All Progressives Congress, Kogi State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has charged the party constitutional review committee to come forth with enabling provisions that would be favourable and inclusive of Nigerian youths and women.
The governor stated this on Tuesday at the opening of the APC North Central Constitutional Review Town hall meeting held in Lokoja the state capital
Governor Bello stressed that recent events and demographic spreads indicate that the youths were ready to speak up and take up the mantle of leadership to participate directly in nation-building.
He also alluded that with nearly 80% per cent of eligible and registered voters between the ages of 18 – 50 years, it is now clear that the youth have possessed a huge electoral advantage if their numbers are plausibly leveraged.
He noted that the timely exercise and current amendment would take the party to greater heights than it was hence the need for diligence as the constitution remained a grand norm of any democratic society.
The governor noted that the APC must ensure that its constitution was a living and evolving organism, adding that as the current custodian of the Nigeria constitution, the party would be able to assure Nigerians of a new constitution that reflects the true yearnings and aspirations of all.
He recalled that since the formation of the party in 2013, it has conducted constitutional review only ones in 2014, asserting that although the constitution had helped the party to several victories and withstood the test of time but not without pockets loopholes that have triggered real and perceived grievances within the party structure.
Governor Bello expressed that, in a rapidly changing world, it was only natural for laws to be reviewed at regular intervals to catch up with novel exigencies while they remain a catalyst to societal development.
In his opening remark, chairman of the Constitution review committee, Prof. Tahir Mamman, SAN thanked the state governor for the reception given to the committee members which has helped in ensuring that their assignment was made easy.
He noted that the pace at which their work needs to be delivered necessitated that the meeting was held at geo-political zones to ensure that the grassroots was effectively reached and their opinions harnessed as inputs into the new party constitution.
Prof Mamman stressed that the APC was deeply rooted in the grassroots as its successes in time past have been largely influenced by people at the grassroots and since its first constitution the party did not put their inputs into consideration it was imperative that the subsequent one effectively carries them along.
