By Ebere Agozie
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mohammed Ndarani has called on the National Assembly to draft a new constitution instead of panel-beating the already tattered 1999 constitution.
Ndarani disclosed this while referring to his submission of a memorandum on the review of the 1999 Constitution to the House of Representatives on Saturday in Abuja.
He said the National Assembly has the power to draft an entirely new constitution instead of panel-beating the tattered addendum to a Military Decree, as a Peoples’ Constitution.
He urged the House to invoke its power of sovereignty and make what would be a people’s constitution for Nigeria.
“Developments in this country today justify the complete overhaul and comprehensive amendment to our 1999 constitution, which was only made as an annexure to a Military Decree.
“We have attempted to beat into shape and modify it through a myriad of amendments, but these efforts have still left much to be desired as they have not yielded the desired dividends.
“Rather, it has created multiple yawning gaps between what a people’s constitution ought to be and what we now have as the nation’s Grundnorm. We believe that it is high time the National Assembly asserted its powers as a “Sovereign Legislature” and enacted for Nigerians a befitting constitution’’.
The SAN said they submitted the memorandum as an affirmation of their absolute faith and confidence in the National Assembly.
“We hope that they will enact a people-oriented constitution, one that satisfies the yearnings of all the people, interests and groups in Nigeria.
“We believe that they will, without bias, collate and harmonise our views and other public views in this regard to produce a formidable document that will effectively, and truly reflect the historical, cultural, and traditional values of all Nigerians, and project and promote the diverse nature of the Nigerian State.
“Only such an unbiased and well-intentioned constitution would chart a way out of the doldrums in which we have been held hostage, and catapult us to the apex of development and progress.
“This is where peace, accountability and patriotic commitment will hold sway, instead of the segmented tribal affiliations, parochial interests and egocentric loyalty that is the bane of our politics and development today’’.
He said that in their submission they proposed a constitutional amendment that will reintroduce the Parliamentary form of government.
“We contend that the present Presidential form of government has outlived its usefulness.
“In the words of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo, `we have a system of government in which we have no hands to define and design, and we continue with it even when we know that it is not working for us’.
“Western liberal democracy has not worked for Africa and the historical and traditional antecedents in Nigeria favour parliamentary governance.
“The dismal performance and failure of the Presidential system of government, and the impracticality of the federation under the Presidential system of government means that we should search for a better alternative, with the Parliamentary system of governance, a better option”.
He disclosed that they also proposed the adoption of the six geopolitical zones to act in the capacity of regional governments.
“They will operate and derive their powers therefrom, with attendant powers allocated to the regional and state governments, and less power given to the central government’’.
“We recommended full, absolute, unadulterated, uncompromised, Local Government autonomy in tandem with the parliamentary system of government which we are proposing.
“We support and recommend the formation of State Police in all the states of the federation, which we consider long overdue.
“We recommended a comprehensive and all-embracing reform of the judiciary to make it capable of standing, performing optimally under the Parliamentary system of governance’’.
Ndarani said that they also recommended Electoral Reforms to strengthen INEC to deliver transparent, credible, free and fair elections.
“It is so painful and disappointing that INEC, Nigeria’s electoral umpire, has been the major headache of electoral fraud in Nigeria.
“There is an overwhelming need to re-strategise, overhaul and amend or enact a new electoral act and regulations to make the process responsive to the will, yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.
“We have submitted our own recommendations hoping that the new constitution, or such amendments, would make provision for a referendum as a condition for the passage of any law or amendments being anticipated thenceforth.
“This, in our opinion, is what would give the said constitution or act the touch of the people and imbue it with the much-needed legitimacy, and bring the laws closer to the people and the people closer to the law and the lawmakers’’.
