Nigeria: The constitutional conundrum

While major political gladiators have set their eyes on 2027, other patriots are desirous a constitutional framework that reflects the diversity of the country due to fundamental defects in the 1999 Constitution (as amended), KUNLE ODEREMI reports.

IN announcing his decision to run for the office of president in 1999 after serving as military head of State, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo made a solemn pledge. The pledge was multi-pronged, as he promised to guarantee a democratic federal structure, if given the mandate to govern the country.

While he embarked on the implementation of his electioneering promises after being sworn in as civilian president, other stakeholders in the Nigerian project within the civil society organisations, pro-democracy and rights organisations, as well as a plethora of professional bodies, sustained the campaign for a truly federal constitution. The individuals and groups had been unrelenting even during the era of military dictatorship that the successive constitutions promulgated by the military oligarchy were not just defective, but also did incalculable damage to the country. 

By 2001, the United Action for Democracy (UAD), a very potent voice and force during the bitter struggle to restore civil rule, produced a draft model of a “suitable Constitution” for Nigeria, given its ethno-religious heterogeneity and diversity.  Virtually all the issues surrounding the devolution of powers, restructuring and fiscal federalism, as well electoral reforms were among the fundamentals necessary for true federalism were captured in the draft.  The ruling political class then ignored the initiative despite the rising number of challenges confronting the country.

Nonetheless, the push by other concerned stakeholders subsisted culminating into another proposed People’s Constitution to replace the 1999 constitutional framework decreed by the short-lived Abdulsalami Abubakar military regime.  The 286-page document that emanated from the People’s National Conference in 2006 acknowledged the ethnic diversity of the country, revenue distribution and generation conundrum, complexity of the state structure and the controversies surrounding the power to determine the membership of the electoral body.  There were also provisions on the form and type of government that Nigeria should institutionalise for the country to achieve stability, growth, development and progress. 

The quest to build a national consensus on the constitutional framework was further underscored by the convocation of the national Constitutional Conference in 2014. After months of rigourous debate, engagement, and discussion, the more than 700 conferees that converged on Abuja, succeeded in reaching compromise on many nagging and knotty national issues that constitute part of the conflicts and impediments to national cohesion and harmony and progress.  These resolutions include: scrapping the current system of 774 local authorities – this is intended to save money and reduce corruption. States would be able to set up their own local systems; creation of 18 new states – equally spread around the country. It also suggested that states wishing to merge can do so if certain conditions are met.  Others are on revenue allocation, including reducing share of national income going to the federal government and increasing share for the states; modified presidential system of government that combines the presidential and parliamentary systems of government. The president should pick the vice-president from the legislature; that power should be shared and rotated at all levels of government. It is recommended that the Presidency should rotate between north and south and among the six geo-political zones of the country. Likewise, the governorship post should rotate among the three senatorial zones in each state.

A former national president of the National Council of Women’s Societies of Nigeria, Hajia Ramatu Dalhatu Musa, noted that The Patriots’ assembly indicated a good omen for the country. Her words: “As we reflect on the nation, I see a Nigeria that is fairly united and prosperous for all its citizens, and compassionately integrating those living in margins into the page of society.”

1914 amalgamation

On the occasion marking the 100 years of the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorate of Nigeria in 1914, former President Goodluck Jonathan reminded Nigerians on chord that ties the diverse ethnic nationalities of the country. In national broadcast to celebrate the centenary, Jonathan displayed the traits of incurable optimists about the country in spite of the daunting challenges confronting the country. He said: “And as I speak with you today, I feel the full weight of our hundred-year history. But what i feel most is not frustration; it is not disillusionment. What I feel is great pride and great hope for a country that is bound to overcome the transient pains of the moment and eventually take its rightful place among the greatest nations on earth.” Most Nigerians still hang on to that hope depicted in his speech, as the effort to fix Nigeria is ultimately, a work in progress.

The Patriots’ initiative

For three days, hundreds of distinguished Nigerians gathered in Abuja last week to discuss the issues facing the country. It came at a period of yet another attempt to re-jig the existing constitutional framework in the country has faced strident criticisms. It also came at the period when the country is locked down by excruciating socioeconomic political and security challenges. The Abuja Assembly comprised high-profile professionals, bureaucrats, technocrats and politicians, trade unionists and scholars of repute and distinguished sons and daughters in the Diaspora. The organisers of The Patriots’ gathering informed that it was designed to address the future of democracy in Nigeria and fast-track the process of evolving a widely-accepted  People’s Constitution for Nigeria.  Former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, deployed his wealth of experience in moderating the processes, and was categorical in his assessment of the present federal arrangement. He said: “As a background to this summit, it is important to state the following indisputable facts that are recognised by all citizens, except of course those who want to continue to live in denial. Nigeria is a pluralistic country. Like all successful pluralistic countries around the world, for its political stability and maximal development, its constitution must address its pluralism by being formulated by elected representatives of its diverse peoples. Our present 1999 constitution as amended, is not such. It was not democratically formulated; it was instead imposed on the country through a decree by the military administration. And the governance system derived from it is not only non-inclusive but also induces over-expenditure of the country’s resources on administration rather than on capital development, hence the need for a new Nigerian people’s democratic constitution.”

The contribution of another elder statesman and member of the 1989 Constitution Review committee, Chief Solomon Adun Asemota, SAN, enriched the conversations at the summit. He decried how the process of amending the constitution has become a drain on national resources. This is because the primary aim of the drive has never been realised.  He recalled his membership of the constituent Assembly in the past, which he said comprised the most intelligent and most responsible people of the country. “Unfortunately, untrained politicians have turned constitutional making as a pastime, a seasonal event that gulps huge sums without achieving anything,” Asemota said. He hoped that the efforts of the patriots at working out a proper constitutional framework will make the difference, as the delegates proposed the setting up a Constituent Assembly. He advised: “it is my hope that the Patriots in this exercise of constitutional making, advise the opposition parties to come together as one or two, include constitution making its manifesto, and possibly a draft constitution as a draft law for the Constituent Assembly.”

Delegates at the summit came from the civil society groups, women, the academia, ethnic nationalities, Nigerians in Diaspora, professional groups, faith-based organisations, traditional rulers, religious leaders, youth groups, market men/women, security experts, student leaders, the private sector and persons with special needs across the country. They took far-reaching resolutions based on the aspirations of the Nigerian people for fairness, social justice, equity, security, and sustainable development, and confronted with the present systemic structural and governance failures and dysfunction under the current 1999 Constitution (as amended).  They agreed that the document did not derive its legitimacy from popular participation and approbation of the Nigerian people hence the inherent flaws and consequences in the existing constitutional frameworks which manifest in the decline into unitary system (rather than fostering genuine federalism), poor leadership and weak delivery of governance arising from weak political structures and institutions; declining sense of citizenship and patriotism, among other core national challenges. Convinced that Nigeria as a political entity needs holistic restructuring and comprehensive overhaul of the existing constitutional framework and governance architecture, the National Summit resolved to chart a new course for enduring future through renewed and unflagging commitment to demanding a new inclusive; democratic Peoples’ Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

The 21 key resolutions were achieved by consensus, which the delegates said offer clear, constructive and principled remedies for Nigeria’s pressing constitutional and governance crises. The communiqué read in part: “The Summit agreed that the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is deeply flawed and unrepresentative in that it was not made by the people and is inadequate for addressing the country’s pluralism and the various challenges confronting Nigeria as a nation. Therefore, delegates agreed that there is the need for a new people-driven, inclusive, democratic Constitution anchored on true federalism. For stability and maximal development, the Constitution must address Nigeria’s plurality and diversity. The conferees also demanded for Constituent Assembly In order to actualise the above and other reforms agreed to at the summit and that the President be requested to introduce an Executive Bill to the National Assembly to empower the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to organise elections to a national Constituent Assembly. This Assembly shall be made up of delegates elected on non-partisan basis as well as representatives of special interest groups. The delegates explained that the Constituent Assembly shall be responsible for actualizing a people’s democratic Constitution that will be subjected to a referendum of the Nigerian people before it is assented to by the President to midwife a people’s democratic Constitution that will be subjected to a referendum of the Nigerian people before it is assented to by the President.

National Assembly

Coincidentally, the chambers of the National Assembly are also making efforts to review and amend the 1999 Constitution, an indication that similar actions in the last 26 years of civil has been salutary. The separate ad hoc committees of the Senate and House of Representatives have held public hearings with most of the issues thrown up at the session becoming a recurring decimal over the years.   These include the imperative for power devolution, fiscal federalism, establishment of state police, restructuring of the nation’s security architecture, reconfiguration of the country into federating regions or zones.

Before now, many experts and observers had cautioned against what they perceive as the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities to the strident agitations against the subsisting constitutional framework in the country. The issues resonated at the summit, with Chief Anyaoku sounding a note of warning, citing historical facts from other lands. Erudite lawyer, prolific author and astute politician, Chief Olaniwun Ajayi, who was an ardent advocate of restructuring in his lifetime, had also expressed such fear. He had asserted that the existing defective structure remained a potential danger to the progress of Nigeria. In his classic book titled Nigeria: Political Power Imbalance, Chief Ajayi, the convoluted federal system constituted the bane and chain down of Nigeria’s progress and development. Therefore, he concluded that, “Unless Nigeria is properly structured, the incongruous state in which it is, which makes the country practically unworkable as it is, has been enjoying these fifty years.  Those who, hitherto, have been enjoying some benefit under the present system would continue to enjoy the illicit benefit with impunity.”

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