He stated this while briefing the Nigerian Governors Forum on the efforts to amend the Nigerian constitution.
Mr. Dogara was invited by the forum to brief the governors on most of the bills being considered in the constitution amendment exercise.
On the governors’ request for expansion of the scope of the exercise, he said only the House could take a decision on the matter.
“Though l am the Speaker, l can tell you that l can only speak where majority of our members have agreed upon.
“So it is a bit early for me to conclude. But this is a democracy and in a democracy, the majority matters.”
He said the house was aware of the ongoing agitations in the country where some are calling for restructuring or true federalism.
He said it is an issue in the manifesto of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
“It is our feeling as very responsive and responsible representatives of the people to ensure that this debate is done.
“And I agree like I said before that the position of the President that most of the matters and issues should be canvassed at the levels of the National Assembly.
“This is because some of the structural imbalances that we are talking about that need what they call restructuring cannot be corrected just by the stroke of the pen. Some of them are actually embedded in the provisions of the constitution.
“Even by pedestrian description of the function of government, the Executive cannot make laws, they cannot amend the constitution. They can only initiate the process in an Executive bill, but it ultimately revolves within the powers of the legislature.
“So, even the committee that is set up by the APC leadership on true federalism, by the time they conclude their work, most of the issues they come out with will require a kind of tinkering of the constitution.
“So, our feeling is that we should not just close the windows to the yearnings of majority of our people.”
He said the house, under his leadership will listen to Nigerians so as to meet the expectations and yearnings of the people
“We will not just amend the constitution for the sake of amending. We will want the exercise to be very impactful. The only way we can get that done is to listen and listen and listen more.”