It’s back again. Another National Assembly. Another “constitutional review.” Another excuse to waste billions while Nigerians starve, hospitals crumble, and insecurity rages unchecked.
Since 1999, this ritual has played out every four years like a bad Nollywood sequel — zonal hearings, memoranda calls, hotel conferences — but nothing ever changes. Nothing.
The truth? Nigeria’s constitutional review process has become a multi-billion naira scam — a political ponzi scheme disguised as reform. Lawmakers and their cronies feed fat on consultancy contracts, per diems, and “public engagement” budgets, while ordinary Nigerians get recycled promises and empty headlines.
Who really benefits from this endless circus? Not the people. Certainly not the democracy it pretends to strengthen. It has become an industry — designed to fail so the cash keeps flowing every legislative cycle.
Consider this: since 1999, over ₦26.8 billion has been sunk into these charades. We’ve held countless hearings, debated the same issues—state police, State creation, true federalism, resource control—but the results? Next to nothing. Minor wins like the Not Too Young To Run Act barely scratch the surface of Nigeria’s deep structural rot. Critical reforms keep dying, killed by state assemblies or the entrenched interests of Nigeria’s selfish political elite.
Worse, the key actors often turn these reviews into career springboards. Ike Ekweremadu, Emeka Ihedioha, Ovie Omo-Agege—all chaired constitutional review committees and then contested governorships. Now Benjamin Kalu, the current Deputy Speaker, is reportedly on the same path. Coincidence? Hardly. This isn’t reform. It’s ambition dressed up in democratic garb.
Behind the scenes, consultants rake in millions for drafting memoranda and organizing hearings. But has there ever been competitive bidding? Who audits these processes? How much donor cash flows into this cesspool? These questions never get answered.
And let’s not forget the 2014 National Conference — 500 delegates, 600 resolutions, a 10,335-page report. Eleven years later, it rots in government archives. Why bother spending billions on new hearings when we already have a roadmap for reform gathering dust? Because for Nigeria’s political class, constitutional review isn’t about solutions. It’s about sustaining a lucrative ritual.
Meanwhile, Nigerians languish in despair. Every naira spent on this scam is money stolen from schools, hospitals, water systems, and security infrastructure. If lawmakers actually ran functional constituency offices, we wouldn’t need national jamborees to hear “the people’s voice.” But these offices are mostly dormant, just like their owners’ consciences.
The problem isn’t lack of laws or ideas. It’s the cowardice and selfishness of leaders who place ambition above service. No constitution can fix a nation ruled by men like this.
It’s time Nigerians woke up. Stop clapping for these annual conferences. Stop treating these politicians like reformers. Until we demand accountability for every kobo spent, this billion-naira merry-go-round will keep spinning — enriching the few while choking the many.
