The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, has said that legislators would re-visit the issue of devolution of powers, considering the uproar sparked it sparked during the constitution review exercise.
Mr. Gbajabiamila said that upon resumption in September, members of the House of Representatives will revisit the issue of devolution of powers in view of the controversy trailing the topic since it was discountenanced by the Senate.
Gbjabiamila said in a comment he posted on Facebook.
“Many of us will be asking for the issue of devolution of powers to be revisited upon resumption in September. The democratic process was played out as it should be during the voting exercise. However, the process is on-going and not concluded,” he said.
According to the Majority Leader, “under our rules, we do have a mechanism, which allows for rescission of a decision when appropriate or when new unknown and facts emerge.”
Read also: How Senate, Reps Voted to Amend 1999 Constitution
Continuing, he said: “For me, it was a mistake or oversight to have lumped all items for devolution under one umbrella or sub-head titled Devolution of Powers. There were about nine items including Railways, Pensions, Arbitration, Stamp Duties, Parks and others under the subhead and members should have voted on each rather than vote in one fell swoop.
“A member may have agreed to certain items for devolution to states and not to others. The way we voted one would never know how to pass judgment on each item.”
He said that he believed that “ each item should stand or fall on its own merit. It is important to note that devolution of powers is baby steps and the simplest form of reconstruction not a surgical dismemberment of our country.
“We must feel the pulse of the nation in moments like this”, Gbajabiamila said in the Facebook post.
