The Presidency is planning the inclusion of six-month residency clause in the proposed constitution amendment, investigations have shown.
Our correspondents learnt on Sunday that the clause was one of the amendments President Goodluck Jonathan would submit to the National Assembly on its resumption on September 13.
It was also learnt that the Presidency was also planning an amendment, which would make local governments to be more independent of states.
Investigations revealed the six –month residency clause was conceived to neutralise the issue of state of origin in appointments.
According to the proposal, any Nigerian will be qualified for an appointment in his or her area of residency. He or she will also be qualified to vote or be voted for in the area.
The issue of indigene, it will be recalled, cropped up during the appointment of the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. OlusegunAgagu.
The Association of the Lagos State Indigene, had faulted the nomination of the minister to represent the state on the grounds that it violated Section 147 (3) of the constitution.
It was gathered that the section and other related aspects of the constitution would be amended to give opportunities to those who were not residing in their states of origin.
A Presidency source said, “Many brilliant Nigerians are being denied opportunities because this problematic issue of the state of origin.
“If we want the country to be united, Nigerians should not be denied opportunities because of parochial reasons such as ethnicity, state of origin and religion. By the proposed amendment, if you have been residing in an area for six months, you can get appointments there.”
According to the source, the President is worried that the issue of area of origin is cropping up in Abuja, where some people are claiming that they should be appointed as ministers to represent the Federal Capital Territory.
Besides the issue of state of origin, investigations showed that the proposed amendments would address the structure of local governments.
According to the proposed amendments, local governments will be recognized as the third tier of government and would be directly funded from the federation account.
The Presidency source condemned the state governments’ joint accounts with the local governments.
Attempts to get Abati’s reactions to the nationwide consultations as his mobile phone was not going though. He had also not responded to an SMS at the time of sending this report.
But the presidential aide had last week told one of our correspondents that “Nigerians should wait for the executive bill, which the President will send to the National Assembly.”
Our correspondents learnt on Sunday that the clause was one of the amendments President Goodluck Jonathan would submit to the National Assembly on its resumption on September 13.
It was also learnt that the Presidency was also planning an amendment, which would make local governments to be more independent of states.
Investigations revealed the six –month residency clause was conceived to neutralise the issue of state of origin in appointments.
According to the proposal, any Nigerian will be qualified for an appointment in his or her area of residency. He or she will also be qualified to vote or be voted for in the area.
The issue of indigene, it will be recalled, cropped up during the appointment of the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. OlusegunAgagu.
The Association of the Lagos State Indigene, had faulted the nomination of the minister to represent the state on the grounds that it violated Section 147 (3) of the constitution.
It was gathered that the section and other related aspects of the constitution would be amended to give opportunities to those who were not residing in their states of origin.
A Presidency source said, “Many brilliant Nigerians are being denied opportunities because this problematic issue of the state of origin.
“If we want the country to be united, Nigerians should not be denied opportunities because of parochial reasons such as ethnicity, state of origin and religion. By the proposed amendment, if you have been residing in an area for six months, you can get appointments there.”
According to the source, the President is worried that the issue of area of origin is cropping up in Abuja, where some people are claiming that they should be appointed as ministers to represent the Federal Capital Territory.
Besides the issue of state of origin, investigations showed that the proposed amendments would address the structure of local governments.
According to the proposed amendments, local governments will be recognized as the third tier of government and would be directly funded from the federation account.
The Presidency source condemned the state governments’ joint accounts with the local governments.
Attempts to get Abati’s reactions to the nationwide consultations as his mobile phone was not going though. He had also not responded to an SMS at the time of sending this report.
But the presidential aide had last week told one of our correspondents that “Nigerians should wait for the executive bill, which the President will send to the National Assembly.”
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