Senate Leader Bamidele Opens 1999 Constitution Review Hearings Across Nigeria’s Six Zones

Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele launches simultaneous public hearings in Enugu, Kano, Jos, Lagos, Ikot-Ekpene, and Maiduguri on July 4–5 to gather citizen input for the next round of 1999 Constitution amendments.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele on Thursday inaugurated zonal public hearings on the next phase of amendments to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The sessions—running 4 – 5 July 2025—are holding simultaneously in all six geopolitical capitals: Enugu, Kano, Jos, Lagos, Ikot-Ekpene, and Maiduguri.
Since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, the National Assembly has passed five alteration acts. Yet, Bamidele said, unresolved questions on electoral justice, judicial efficiency, local-government autonomy, security, federal structure, gender inclusion, and traditional-institution roles still dominate public discourse.
The Senate Constitution Review Committee has already sifted through hundreds of memoranda, translating citizen proposals into draft bills now open for debate at the hearings. “Our mandate,” Bamidele noted, “is to build broad national consensus—beyond the voices of a powerful minority.”
Declaring the hearings a “vital civic duty,” the Senate leader urged participants to share views “with decorum, integrity, and patriotism,” stressing that lawmakers hold no fixed positions and will be guided by public input.
Bamidele underscored that final amendments will require joint approval by the House of Representatives, 36 State Houses of Assembly, and cooperation from the executive and judiciary. “A law that is not enforced is ineffective,” he cautioned.
The senator thanked state governors, legislators, civil-society groups, and development partners for supporting the hearings, pledging a transparent process that “prioritises the interests of all Nigerians.”