From John Silas and Cyriacus Nnaji, Lagos
Chief Ayo Adebanjo, an Elder statesman, was among those who have called for the comprehensive implementation of the 2014 National Conference.
Chief Adebanyo made the call at the National Constitutional Dialogue which took place at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos State, on Monday, March 18, 2024.
The event which was organized by The Patriots, was held in honour of the late Iconic Constitutional lawyer, Professor Ben Nwabueze.
The Patriots are an eminent multi-stakeholders body in Nigeria committed to making impactful interventions in Nigeria as required by situations, through public statements and actions on national governance and democratic issues; they are non-partisan political leaders of thought.
According to Chief Adebanyo, the report of 2014 National Conference represented the wishes and aspirations of the people of Nigeria, the way they want to be governed considering the representation of the people from different parts of the country that attended the national conference, adding that what Nigeria needs is a brand new constitution and not the amendment of the current constitution, which the National Assembly wants to embark on.
He said any other exercise on constitutional amendment is a waste of time and resources, adding that the conference was well represented. “Take the 2014 constitution and work with it. You cannot get a better representation for this country other than those who represented this country in 2014. I challenge anybody to tell me if there can be a better representation for this country other than the 2014 representation of Nigerians,” Adebanjo stated.
On his part, General Ike Nwachukwu (rtd), while advocating a new constitution, added “1999 constitution is absolutely not working for the country”.
Nwachukwu stated that there is a need for the president to join in the change of the constitution, even as he urged that the central government should be decentralised, while the states should be given more authority.
Chief James Ibori, former governor of Delta State, in his intervention said, “I put life to what my former colleagues have said, that means there is no way we can get progress with this discussion without the buy-in of the sitting president.
“Some of you know that I have the experience of having been governor of Delta State for eight years.
“I have advocated for true federalism and resource control. I can tell you that on two occasions, I sat with the president of the Senate on this matter and on the two occasions, he was not convinced that we have a very bad structure. So the best thing to do is to ask the governor of Lagos State to take a few members of The Patriots to sit quietly with the president so we can get a buy-in and convince him. You know from my experience when we were advocating for true federalism and resource control and with due respect to all my other colleagues, the then Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, was the only South-West governor that joined us in that advocacy. So he doesn’t need much convincing,” Ibori stated.
Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Chairman of The Patriots opined that the present Nigerian constitution is not suitable to take care of the many challenges confronting Nigeria and urged for the adoption of the recommendations of the 2014 national conference or the conduct of an inexpensive constituent assembly that would be impartial to have a truly federal constitution. “Our present 1999 constitution as amended not only lacks the legitimacy that flows from a democratically made constitution but also has proved to be unsuitable for tackling many of the serious challenges confronting our country. It is a widely recognised fact that the crucial areas of the country have significantly deteriorated and continue to deteriorate.”
Earlier, the keynote speaker, Prof. Mike Ozekhome, who stated that the constitution is the birth certificate or identity card of any nation, added that the procedure by which a constitution comes is more important than the constitution itself. He said that a referendum is key to any production of a constitution.
He said that constitution amendment is not the problem as the 1999 constitution is a fundamentally flawed one, adding that one million amendments cannot cure or solve it.
Ozekhome suggested that Nigeria must own its own constitution through popular referendum of the people, “Without that, we will be on a journey of no destination.”
On the things Nigerians should expect in the constitution, Ozekhome said, “We need a six-zonal federal structure, which is directly overseeing the states. Create Supreme Court to handle matters that come from states; States should be granted full control over their own resources and pay 30 percent to the Federal Government; Vulnerable groups and gender should be given positions in the international affairs, especially women; abolish either the green or red chamber or you allow them to sit on part-time basis; There should be power rotation between the North and South; and Create anti-corruption constitutional courts.”
On his part, Governor Sanwo-Olu backed the agitation for a true federal constitution for Nigeria to devolve power to the states and charged the National Assembly to put a legal framework in place for the birth of a new constitution that would be determined by the Nigerian people.
Sanwo-Olu said the conversation around the making of a new constitution should be driven further. “If eminent Nigerians; people who have used better parts of their time serving this country have a conversation and we cannot take it forward and make sure that we have a complete solution, then we are wasting our time. Given the number of people that are here, we should make this conversation very effective.
“I stand here as a leader of the largest state. How well do we see the anomalies that we have in our country? Why would a federal agency come to control the water in front of Ozumba Mbadiwe? Why would a federal agency of 1,000 kilometers away come to see the needs of my people in Ozumba Mbadiwe? Those are some of the things that we need to take forward and say that indeed we need to have a true federating state and be able to amend this constitution.
“I am a willing convert. Whatever we need to do now, there are so many serving and former governors here, let us make the changes that we desire and let the soul of Prof. Ben Nwabueze rest in peace because this is something that he fought for over 60 years of his life. And we are still here talking about it. We have the opportunity to make those changes now and I stand here to say to you that we are willing to work with you to make those changes,” Sanwo-Olu stated.
