Details of meeting between Senate Leadership, Traditional Rulers in Abuja

The leadership of the Senate on Monday met with top traditional rulers in the country.

TrackNews Media reports that the leadership of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria were on a courtesy visit to the National Assembly, Abuja.

Addressing the demands of the rulers, the Senate leadership said that it will consider assigning constitutional roles to traditional rulers in the next constitution amendment.

This was in response to a request by the leadership of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria.

The monarchs, led by the Etsu Nupe, His Royal Highness Yahaya Abubakar, said that the 1999 Constitution failed to assign specific roles to traditional rulers despite the crucial roles they played in stabilising the society and maintaining the unity of the country.

They said they had tried several times to rectify the problem, but the situation had remained the same.

“The most recent of such efforts was the one made during the 9th National Assembly, which didn’t scale through as a result of failure to get the required votes in the Senate in spite of its success in the House of Representatives,” he said.

In response, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said that the Senate was aware of the importance of traditional rulers in nation-building.

He said the Senate would consider their request in the next constitution amendment.

Akpabio said that traditional rulers had key roles to play in governance, especially in the area of ensuring the security of lives and property.

He said that if traditional rulers were constitutionally engaged in governance at the grassroots, the myriad of security challenges facing the country would be a thing of the past.

The Senate President said: “Your request for a constitutional role in governance is not strange to us and in particular to me based on my background.

“My late grandfather was a traditional ruler and, in fact, one of the warrant officers used by the colonial masters for effective implementation of indirect rule.

“During the period, traditional rulers effectively tackled issues of safety and security in their various domains.

“It is my belief and the entire Senate leadership here that if traditional rulers are constitutionally engaged in governance at the grassroots, the myriad of security challenges facing the country would be a thing of the past.”