On June 22, 2025, the Office of the Deputy Senate President issued a press release announcing a 2-day Zonal Public Hearing on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, scheduled to take place simultaneously across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones — Lagos, Enugu, Ikot Ekpene, Jos, Maiduguri, and Kano — from July 4 to 5, 2025.
The hearing, according to the Senate Committee on the Review of the Constitution chaired by Deputy Senate President Senator Barau I Jibrin, is meant to solicit the views of Nigerians on a range of proposed constitutional amendments.
These include local government autonomy, electoral and judicial reforms, state police, gender equity, traditional institutions, fiscal reforms, and state creation. Over 20 bills on judicial reform, security sector restructuring, and diaspora voting will also be reviewed.
On paper, this is an impressive and comprehensive agenda. The stakes are high. The issues are urgent. The vision, if truly pursued, is transformative. But there is one fundamental question that must be asked: Will this be different from past exercises?
*A Recycled Ritual or a Genuine Commitment?*
We have been here before.
Previous National Assemblies have conducted similar regional constitutional public hearings, with wide media coverage and enthusiastic citizen participation. But what became of those inputs? What was implemented? How many of the citizens’ voices made it into actual constitutional amendments or translated into policy?
The honest answer is: very little to nothing.
These past exercises, conducted at significant public expense, often end up as political rituals — carefully staged, with the illusion of inclusion, but devoid of political will or follow-through. A new National Assembly then takes over and begins the cycle again — new committee, new chairman, new press statements, same outcome: zero accountability.
If the current effort does not break from this pattern, then this exercise will be no more than a conduit for wasting public resources, while Nigerians continue to face the consequences of a constitution that no longer serves their democratic, economic, and human rights aspirations.
*Why Nigerians Must Still Engage*
Despite this track record, Nigerians must continue to show up, speak up, and hold the process accountable. Democratic progress is never automatic, and civic apathy will only deepen the culture of impunity and exclusion.
Civil society groups, professional associations, traditional rulers, women’s coalitions, youth organisations, and the media must mobilise, not just to participate, but to document, monitor, and evaluate the process and outcomes of this hearing.
*We must demand:*
* Clear timelines for action post-hearing
* Transparent criteria for incorporating public input into the proposed amendments
* Periodic updates on legislative progress from the Committee
* Publication of final reports and voting records on key proposals
* Independent oversight to ensure that the exercise is not hijacked by political or sectional interests
*This Constitution Review Must Mean Something — or It Will Mean Nothing*
We cannot afford another theatrical show of consultation with no substance. The issues on the table — from state police to women’s political representation, to local government autonomy, to judicial reform — are existential and demand seriousness.
If this public hearing does not lead to meaningful constitutional amendments, it will deepen public distrust in government processes and further damage the legitimacy of the National Assembly.
This is a pivotal moment for the 10th Senate to either break the jinx or become another forgettable chapter in the long history of constitutional revision without reform.
Okechukwu Nwanguma
Executive Director, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC)
