Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Let's all get on the same page

Would it be a problem if some of the textbooks your students used were different from others? What if your students were spread out across the country? Does it matter if some unofficial copies of a country's constitution are not up to date?

(Some of the language in this article is confusing. I don't know whether that's caused by differing usages or by inadequate editing.)

Senate Orders Withdrawal of Nigeria Constitution From Circulation

Disturbed over the proliferation of versions and copies of the 1999 Constitution as amended in the country, the Senate has called for the immediate withdrawal of the document in circulation, with a bid to harmonizing it into one constitution that would be a uniform one.

Against this backdrop the Senate Tuesday mandated the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to liaise with the National Judicial and the Attorney-General and other relevant agencies to withdraw the different versions of the Constitution in circulation, just as it urged the Committee to with all the other government agencies to authorize the printing and distribution of an authentic and consolidated version which should reflect the different alterations in the Constitution since 1999…

The resolution of the Senate was sequel to subsequent to motion by Senator Chukwuka Utazi, PDP, Enugu North and titled, "Harmonising the different versions and copies of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in circulation into one authentic whole."…

In his remarks, Senate President Bukola Saraki then ruled and mandated the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to urgently liaise with relevant organs of the government in ensuring harmonization of the different versions and copies of the Constitution in circulation into one authentic whole.