Tuesday, 25 May 2021: The House of Representatives Special Committee on Constitution Review has fixed June 1 to June 3 for its zonal public hearings taking place across the country’s six geopolitical zones.

Umar Puma, chief press secretary to the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Ahmed Wase, said this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

He said the committee had invited the general public, executive and judicial bodies, traditional institutions, political parties, civil society organisations, professional bodies and all other ‘stakeholders’.

The statement quoted Wase, who is the chairman of the special committee on constitution review, as saying that each zone would have two centres.

The committee chairman further stated that the North-central zonal public hearing would hold in Jos, with Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa States and FCT, in attendance, while Lokoja would serve as the second centre, with Kogi, Niger and Kwara states.

“The North-East has Bauchi centre, which is made up of Bauchi, Borno and Yobe states, while Yola centre has Adamawa, Taraba and Gombe States.

“The North-West centre is in Birnin Kebbi, with Kebbi, Zamfara and Sokoto states, while Kano centre, which will hold on June 2 and June 3, with Kano, Kaduna, Katsina and Jigawa states.

“The South-East which has Enugu centre, will host Enugu, Anambra and Ebonyi states, while Owerri centre will host Imo and Abia states.

“The South-West with a centre in Akure, will host Ondo, Ekiti and Osun states, while Lagos centre will host Lagos, Oyo and Ogun states.

“The South-South zone comprising Delta, Bayelsa and Edo States, will hold in Asaba centre on June 2 and June 3, while Uyo centre will hold on June 1 and June 2, with Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Cross River States.”

Wase appealed to members of the committee “to always put Nigeria first and work for Nigeria to ensure it delivered for the country the best constitution”.

He revealed that the members of the committee would be posted outside their zones “to have a feeling of what obtains in other geopolitical zones”.

“We have an opportunity to write our names in gold, let us not waste this golden opportunity as all eyes are on us.

“We must ensure that we do not betray the confidence Nigerians have in us,” he said.