0309/FEB/26/2/2024/Hogan Bassey/NAN
Etsu Nupe and Chairman, Niger State Council of Traditional Rulers, Yahaya Abubakar, has said governors should be stripped of powers to remove traditional rulers in their states.
He, therefore, called for the review of the constitution to reflect constitutional roles for traditional rulers.
The monarch, who made the call at the inauguration of the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review, led by Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, yesterday, advised that kingmakers should be highly involved in the process of dethroning a traditional ruler.
Abubakar said: “You discover that the 1999 Constitution actually expunges our duties and it gives us no legal backing. But due to our roles and duties in the society, we attend to issues. However, we noticed that it is in the last hours people come to us when things have gone bad. Therefore, we need powers to attend to local and domestic issues.
“On removal of traditional rulers, we have our history and culture and we have ways traditional rulers can be removed. We have kingmakers, who sit and deliberate on who becomes king. They can be three, four or five. However, we believe that when any traditional ruler commits an offence, it should go through the same process of enthronement.”
According to him, certain removals are actually political and degrade the traditional institution.
“In our present day political exercise, you see governors and political office holders fighting traditional rulers for not supporting a political party. This has to stop,” he added.
While throwing his weight behind the move to establish state police, the Etsu Nupe said the fears expressed by some Nigerians that state police might be abused by governors should not hinder the creation of such institutions.
“All suggestions like restructuring and state police are important. Look at them critically; for instance, the issue of governors abusing state police. And so what? We believe that if state police is established, it will go a long way in solving our security issues,” he stated.
Also, Tor Tiv, Prof James Ayatse, affirmed that traditional rulers have a role to play in the development of the country, especially in maintaining peace and unity.
He, however, lamented that the 1999 Constitution expunged the roles of traditional rulers, as the institution’s role is not reflected in the document.
“The time has come that something must be done in this Constitution review, as it presents another opportunity for traditional rulers to be properly reflected in the Constitution of the country,” he explained.
