A mixture of approval and disapproval is trailing the request tabled by the group of eminent persons under the aegis of The Patriots before President Bola Tinubu to initiate a bill that will lead to a constitution that reflects the collective will and aspirations of Nigerians to replace the existing 1999 Constitution midwifed by the military.
While some stakeholders backed the suggestions towards producing a constitution Nigerians can claim ownership of, others said the government should adopt the report of the 2014 National Constitutional Conference (Confab) because of its far-reaching and all-encompassing recommendations.
A former Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, who led other personalities cutting across different professional backgrounds, on a visit to the Presidential Villa at the weekend, had appealed to the president to present an executive bill to the National Assembly, proposing the setting up of a National Constituent Assembly with the mandate to draft a people’s democratic constitution for the country.
According to Anyaoku, the constituent assembly members will be elected on a non-political basis, with three persons from each of the 36 states and one from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
In addition, the elder statesman said The Patriots wants a legislation that will enable the draft constitution to be subjected to a national referendum.
While expressing his respect for members of The Patriots and their contributions to national discourse, the president promised to review the request from the group, but that his foremost priority at the moment is to retool the economy for sustainable growth and development.
“I am currently preoccupied with economic reform. That is my first priority. Once this is in place, as soon as possible, I will look at other options, including constitutional review as recommended by you and other options,” Tinubu said.
PANDEF, Ikimi lament flaws in 1999 Constitution
Apex South-South organisation, Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and the Centre for the Vulnerable and the Underprivileged (CENTREP) backed the demand because of what they identified as flaws in the 1999 Constitution, even as amended.
“The 1999 Constitution has significant flaws. It was imposed by the military and is seen as a fundamental part of the nation’s problems,” PANDEF national publicity secretary, Dr Ken Robinson told the Nigerian Tribune.
“To move forward, we need a new constitution that would address the structural imbalances and ensure equity, fairness, and justice.
“The current constitution undermines federalism by concentrating power and resources at the center, hindering development and stability. The exclusive legislative list needs to be pruned, though the Tinubu administration took off electricity and railway from it.
“Not less than 30 items still need to be moved from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List, including commercial and industrial monopolies, combines and trusts; fishing and fisheries; incorporation, regulation, and winding up of bodies corporate; insurance; trade and commerce; patents, trademarks, trade or business names, industrial designs, and merchandise marks; mines and minerals, including oil fields, oil mining, geological surveys, and natural gas, etc.”
Similarly, the national coordinator of CENTREP, Oghenejabor Ikimi, who is a lawyer and rights activist, affirmed that the 1999 Constitution is flawed in all facets.
“Everything about the Nigerian 1999 constitution is wrong as it is a product of a military decree. With the 1999 Constitutional framework, our country was structured to fail.
“Nothing works in our country because, as a federation, our constitutional framework pontificates a unitary system of government instead of a federal system. This is no doubt a 419 constitution.
“With a unitary system of government being practised in a federation like ours, the 1999 constitutional framework and its operators are bound to fail because the constitution is a fraud,” Ikimi said.
Ohanaeze wants implementation of 2014 Confab report, backs The PATRIOTS on new constitution
The pan-Igbo umbrella organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo also declared support for the demand of The Patriots, but with a caveat.
The organization said the quest to have a people’s constitution can be achieved by the authorities implementing the report of the 2014 Confab.
In a statement signed by Secretary General, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro on Sunday, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo said the country cannot afford to set a constituent assembly now because of the multifaceted challenges confronting it.
“We believe that a true federal constitution, akin to those of successful pluralistic countries like India and Canada, is essential for addressing Nigeria’s diverse challenges and ensuring the unity and progress of our nation,” it stated.
“We reflect on the recommendations of past constitutional conferences and assemblies, such as the 2005 National Political Confab and the 2014 National Conference, which highlighted the need for additional states in the Southeast region.
“We urge President Tinubu to prioritize the implementation of the 2014 National Conference recommendations, as this will not only address the pluralism of Nigerian society but also demonstrate his commitment to unity and progress.
We shouldn’t waste taxpayers money on new Constitution – Okorie, Yagbagi
In the same vein, a chieftain of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, ( APGA), Chief Chekwas Okorie said embarking on the drafting of a new Constitution would take a toll on the nation’s purse and suggested that President Tinubu should ask for report of the 2014 Confab which he noted contained far-reaching recommendations and ensure its implementation.
He said: “What The Patriots are proposing will only keep Nigerians busy. In terms of cost and reality of our present situation, we don’t need that large number.”
In his reaction, the national chairman of the Action Democratic Party and immediate past national chairman of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Yagbagi Sani, dismissed the proposal of a new Constitution as dead on arrival.
He said there was nothing wrong with the present 1999 Constitution but the operators.
He said:” It is dead on arrival, because you know that there is a National Assembly, where these things can be discussed. If the present Constitution isn’t working, how do we make it work? Why is the presidential system working in other places?
“It isn’t about the Constitution but the people. What happened to the 2014 National Conference? I think they just want to divert our attention. All we need to do is to make the system work.”
What Nigeria needs -Don, ASOMBEN
Speaking, a professor of Constitutional Law, James Aduba said what Nigeria needs now is the devolution of power and slight amendment to the 1999 Constitution, not the kind of constitution being canvassed for by The Patriots.
However, the national president of the Association of Middle Belt Ethnic Nationalities (ASOMBEN), Mr Sule Kwasau described the request of The Patriot as apt and necessary for the country to progress.
Aduba of the Faculty of Law, University of Jos, posited that the problem in Nigeria is not about the constitution but Nigerians’ attitude to constitutionalism, stressing that the existing constitution that some Nigerians were trying to rubbish was put together by some of the best brains in the country in the past.
“Our problem is that we don’t stick to the provisions in the constitution. There is no point in wasting money. Imagine what we do every year.
“From 1999 to date, how many reviews have we done on our Constitution? Why are we waiting money on what I will call frivolity?
“Our problem is that we lack altitude to constitutionalism; we always claim that we are Democrats, but we are not.
“There are beautiful aspects of the constitution that can make this country eldorado, but the question is that we do not have the altitude.”
In his opinion, the national president, Association of Middle Belt Ethnic Nationalities (ASOMBEN), Mr Sule Kwasau said request for the people’s constitution is necessary because the country is on probation and needs to be rescued.
He said the 1999 Constitution has been severally mutilated and amended and therefore cannot be classified as the people’s constitution.
Proposal consistent with our demands —Afenifere Oyo
Chairman, Afenifere Oyo, Dr Gbola Adetunji said The Patriots’ position was consistent with Afenifere’s demands over the years. He added that what Afenifere remains keen on is restructuring of the country, in line with the 1963 Republican Constitution which guarantees control of resources by the regions and ensures that each region develops at its own pace.
Adetunji said: “We don’t want a situation where one region will lord itself over the other and deter the progress of the regions. We want a situation where the resources of our states will be used to develop our people to the best of their ability. We also want a situation where the federal will only concern itself with what is federal, including currency, security, border control, foreign policy and such matters.”
Similarly, when contacted last night, the National Secretary of the Afenifere, Sola Ebiseni told the Nigerian Tribune that the leaders were holding a virtual meeting on the call by The Patriots for a new constitution and that the outcome of the meeting would be communicated to the media.
Lawyers differ on call for a new constitution
Reacting to the advocacy of The Patriots, the past Chairman of the Garki Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja, Obioma Ezenwobodo said the call for a people’s Constitution is a right call, adding that the extant constitution is nothing short of military decree handed over to Nigerians with a lying caveat that it was made by the people of Nigeria.
According to him, the major wrong in the extant Constitution (the 1999 Constitution) is that, it does not reflect the expressions and intentions of different segment of Nigeria as it was made by the military instead of the resolution of the people.
“We need a new Constitution that will address existential challenges confronting us which includes: resource control, regionalism, referendum, citizenship, land tenure system, economic structure, security issues and other related issues.
“Though, there is an issue with bad operations of the extant Constitution but it will reduce drastically when people’s Constitution is in place as it will imbue ownership and organic support for the new Constitution,” Ezenwobodo added.
In his reaction, another legal practitioner and vice president of the African Bar Association, Dr. Samson Osagie, said the challenges affecting the country are not much of inadequate legislations but the penchant for the people to obey the laws and the leaders and law enforcers to enforce the laws.
“I think we should not devote our precious time in another round of Constitution making when the extant constitution makes provisions for how it can be reviewed from time to time.
“It is an old-time tradition to call for the remaking of a new Constitution. The calls should be for the nation to enforce, implement and obey the laws and the Constitution.
“There is nothing wrong fundamentally with our laws but there is a lot wrong with both the people and the government in implementing the laws and the constitution”, he explained.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Dr Adekunle Ojo said that the Nigerian Constitution, just like similar documents around the World, should enjoy some level of dynamism and changes, because it has its own shortcomings, which is part of the functions of the National Assembly members to review from time to time.
“There are places in the Constitution now that require urgent attention of the National Assembly. There ought to be a relationship between the central and the state governments, but including the local government councils in the Constitution is an aberration because it ought not to be listed in the constitution.
“What we should look at is the over concentration of our control and management in the Federal Government. For example, the ownerships, control and management of national resources in the hands of the Federal Government has really set Nigeria backward for so many years.
“That singular reason has not allowed the state and the people to develop. One other area that needs to be looked at is the cost of running presidential system of government and Bicameral legislature.
“If we must run a bicameral legislature, it should be run on part- time basis so that the problem of paying our national Assembly members monthly jumbo salaries will not longer be there,” Ojo said.
No need for fresh National Constituent Assembly
—George
Also, a former deputy national chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, reiterated his call on President Tinubu to revisit the report of 2014 confab rather than convening a fresh national constituent assembly with the mandate to draft a people’s constitution.
George reiterated that the proposal by The Patriots cannot work with the involvement of the National Assembly as lawmakers, even as he noted that it would be another spendthrift exercise.
He said what the government needs to do is to revisit the report, bring it to public view, debate it, and do everything possible to produce new constitution.
George said: “So, if we are asking that the National Assembly should be asked to produce a people’s constitution, it is as if we are turning the hands of the clock backwards, the report of the 2014 Constitutional Conference should be revisited instead.
“Therefore, with due respect for Papa, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, and for the first time, all what Nigerians are agitating for state police, devolution of powers, every thing is contained in the report.
“I was a member of the Constituent Assembly, Chief Anyaoku was also part of the Assembly and likewise other respected and distinguished Nigerians. They should go for the report, we don’t need gathering of a crowd anymore, we don’t need to spend any money again for such.”
‘All they need to do is to revisit the report which has been existing during Jonathan’s era. They should bring it out, discuss it and debate it, bring it to public view.”
He added: “If we asking for the National Assembly to commence fresh process, when will it be able to conclude, the new constitution we are seeking should be made available and should not extend beyond this current term and President Tinubu’s government can do it.
“They should bring that 2014 Confab report out for all Nigerians to discuss and debate it, we can’t continue with this present constitution, it’s not working, it’s so military in its setup, it does not give the people power to control their own affairs!
“ We are not under the military where only one person is in control of who should sleep and who should wake up, and how much amount of money local governments should be given? What concerns the Federal Government about that?
“If Bola Tinubu now has the interest, because then he showed no interest when he was called to nominate his own people for the then Constituent Assembly, it was the Afenifere that sent their representatives. Let them bring out the 2014 Confab Report for debate, whichever one they want to remove, let them do so, we can’t decide to roll back.
“The country must move forward, I don’t support the idea that the National Assembly should be asked to produce people’s constitution,” he said.
‘Nigerians need new mindset, reorientation ‘
The immediate past chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA Bauchi Branch) and member, Governing Council NBA Human Rights Institute, Abuja, Mr Jibrin S Jibrin, also said the “issue is not about having a new constitution; It is rather the question of faithful implementation.
“Having in mind the fact that no human law is perfect, a faithful observance of the Constitution would have made a huge difference in the lives of the people since the most important thing is the impact the system makes in terms of dividends of democracy and not necessarily whether the law (i.e. Constitution) has answers to all the questions.
“In support of this view, reference is often made to the United States, whose Constitution was reviewed a far fewer times compared to countries like Nigeria, especially if you at the length of time that civil rule has been in operation in both countries.
“Another example is the issue of the relationship between local governments and states as regards release of funds due to the councils by the States, having in place democratic structures in place of caretaker committees, etc.”
“The point I am trying to put across here is to say that ordinarily, Governors should have been more responsible and observant of the Constitutional provisions dealing with local councils such that it wouldn’t have required the present President Tinubu-led administration going to Court before the question of releasing funds due to the councils would be settled.”
“Ordinarily, the constitution has some provisions in place that provide for the proper thing to be done in these areas but because of the mindset of most of our leaders and their character deficit, you have to go all the way to get some of these things rightly done,” he added.
“In essence, my point is that a new Constitution is neither the issue nor the answer in Nigeria. Yes, there may be a couple of areas requiring a review but, of what benefit will that be when most Nigerians think more of their personal, selfish and sectional above that of the country? I therefore stress the point that at the moment, a new Constitution should not and is not our priority as a nation.”
Comrade Abdullahi Yalwa, who is a public affairs analyst, noted that the 1999 Constitution “is not a perfect document.”
“It is, however, obvious that our problem has to do more with our attitude or simply put our energy to doing the right thing, of course including the desire to manipulate or bend the constitution like other laws of the land to satisfy our egocentric interest.
“Those canvassing for constitutional amendment have the right to their agitation but should first insist for the sincere and honest implementation of what we have handy,” he said.
