Ike Ekweremadu, chairman, Senate Committee on Constitution Review and deputy Senate president has said that the Senate decided to embark on the ongoing Short Message Service (SMS) and online opinion poll to offer many Nigerians greater opportunity to participate in the constitution review process.
He said the Committee opted to adopt the online opinion polls to ensure transparency and also stop the hijack of the constitution amendment process by the elites.
Ekweremadu also urged Nigerians to utilise the Service to express their views on critical matters in the ongoing constitution review.
He said the opinion poll was in keeping with the promise and commitment of the committee to popular participation, inclusivity, and transparency in the ongoing constitution amendment process.
The deputy Senate president said the major aims of the poll were to “demystify constitutionmaking, get more Nigerians involved, and correct the wrong perception of constitutionmaking as an elite’s affair.”
He said: “We want to discourage the usual situation where a vocal and privileged few expropriate the voices of the rest of the people, foist their personal opinions and narrow interests on the polity, claiming same to be the views of their people.”