By Onyeche Igwe
After five amendments to the 1999 Constitution, two constitutional conferences and various recommendations of committees and panels, Nigerians are still in search of an acceptable grundnorm that will drive socio-economic development 25 years into the Fourth Republic.
Currently, the National Assembly is in pursuit of the sixth amendment and the polity is awash with debates on whether the country should go for a new Constitution or continue with the tinkering of the 1999 document.
While those for amendments argue that the Constitution is not the problem but the operators, and called for a new leadership orientation, those seeking a new grundnorm counter that the 1999 Constitution is so undemocratic and faulty that no amount of amendments can remedy it.
How it started
Moves to get the Constitution set aside started on May 30, 1999, a few hours after then-President Olusegun Obasanjo assumed office.
A host of pro-democracy groups such as the National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, and leaders cited many lacunae, ambiguities and errors in the Constitution that was handed to Obasanjo on May 29, 1999.
Fashioned by the military, not the people
They went ahead to disown it, citing the preamble to the Constitution, which states: “We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, having firmly and solemnly resolved, to live in unity and harmony as one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign nation under God, dedicated to the promotion of inter-African solidarity, world peace, international cooperation and understanding; and to provide for a Constitution to promote the good government and welfare of all persons in our country, on the principles of freedom, equality and justice, and to consolidate the unity of our people, do hereby make, enact and give to ourselves the following Constitution.”
According to them, the people of Nigeria did not at any time sit down to agree on the Constitution, which was fashioned by the outgoing military regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar, and it was never subjected to a referendum.
Flaws, ambiguities
This was apart from complaints that the Constitution was unitarist, centrist against true federalism, and stunted the development of the federating units, hence the vigorous campaign for restructuring, resource control and devolution of power among others.
It was, therefore, not surprising that each of the seven National Assembly – Fourth (1999-2003) to the current 10th (2023-2027), embarked on constitutional amendments for which about seven billion naira has been spent.
Unending amendments, 37 items altered
What would have been the first and elaborate amendment by the National Assembly in 2006 was aborted because of alleged third term ambition of then-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Thus, the first amendment was in 2010 and it made changes to the retirement age of judges. The second amendment in 2011 modified the procedures for impeaching the President and Vice President.
The 2017 third amendment expanded the powers of the National Assembly.
The fourth amendment in 2022 made changes to the provisions regarding state creation and revenue allocation.
The fifth alteration in 2023 contained 16 bills, which immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law before quitting power. The bills included a constitutional amendment allowing states to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity in areas covered by the national grid.
So far, no fewer than 37 items have been amended in the Constitution.
Other efforts
The Executive arm of the Federal Government also organised two constitutional conferences via President Obasanjo (2005) and President Goodluck Jonathan (2014).
Pro-democracy groups and leaders, led by late Chief Anthony Enahoro, equally held the Pro-National Conference Organisation, PRONACO, confab in 2005.
Not done, the government raised various committees such as Stephen Oronsaye (cutting cost of governance), Muhammadu Uwais (Electoral Reform), aimed at deepening democracy and good governance.
The Patriots, a group of eminent Nigerians and elder statesmen led by Chief Emeka Anyaoku, added fodder to the burning constitutional debate on August 9, 2024 when they visited President Bola Tinubu.
They urged the President to initiate a process to fashion a new federal constitution and discard the current one in order to avert disintegration of the country.
The Patriots noted that Nigeria is a pluralistic country and needs a federal constitution to survive and make progress.
The advice has elicited mixed views in the polity.
No need to discard the 1999 Constitution – Dumebi Kachikwu
Disagreeing with the call to change the Constitution, 2023 Presidential Candidate of the African democratic Congress, ADC, Mr Dumebi Kachikwu, said there is no need to change the Constitution, adding: “This is what a lot of people from the old order always say. Our biggest problem is that we have not done enough with the current Constitution available to us.
“There is so much we can do. Every year or on every legislative agenda they always introduce constitutional amendments, and in more cases than one, we have seen where the Constitution has been amended.
“Whatever we have to do with our Constitution, let us take it through that channel. But the first job of our president is to understand that most Nigerians don’t believe we have a country or that we are one people.”
Tanko Yakassai disagree
Reacting, a founding member of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, said the Constitution was not the problem but the operators.
Without a change of mindset and conduct of the country’s leaders, “even the most perfectly crafted Constitution will fail to deliver progress and stability,” he argued.
Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, on his part, said: “I think the NASS can be a lot more efficient in the constitutional reforms process. It has gone on for far too long with no significant results.
“It has to be realized that Nigeria’s critical existential challenge is an over-centralized governance structure. Power resides only in Abuja. The governors have no real and effective power. This overheats the nation.
“I suggest that our political leaders look at history to see what the Roman Emperor, Diocletian, did in 340 AD.
“Realizing that the Empire was far too big for him to govern, Diocletian appointed four co – emperors that enabled the Roman Empire to last 1,500 years.
“Just by a simple but singular constitutional reform, the NASS can’t continue to ‘go slow’ on this crucial matter of national governance. I urge them to take decisive and conclusive action immediately.”
Mr. Hannibal Uwaifo, President of African Bar Association, shared similar sentiments, stating that it was time to re-examine the constitutional amendment process and explore ways to make it more effective and responsive to Nigeria’s needs.
“Whatever constitutional amendments that is to be made have to be a realistic one where the executive, the judiciary, the federal and state legislatures and all interest groups will sit down and deal with this issue, and that can only be done if the National Assembly enacts law in this direction since they are the only legitimate authority to do so now”, Uwaifo said. “They should enact a legislation convening a Sovereign National Conference. This decision will be totally binding and will be passed into law.
“Apart from that, anybody expecting that this National Assembly will do justice to any amendment is a wishful thinker.
“The lawmakers do not have any conscience towards actualizing the wish and aspirations of the people, they are after money and after their own self -interest.
“They won’t get anywhere. They are only going to do the normal jamboree, collect billions of naira, and end up fighting themselves.”
Also speaking, Executive Director, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre, RULAAC, Okechukwu Nwanguma, said: “I do know that successive National Assembly budgets huge funds for the same process of constitutional amendment.
“At the end of the term of each Assembly, the efforts come to naught. Therefore, creating constitutional amendment committees and allocating funds to them ostensibly for constitutional amendment purposes becomes a mere cash cow, a seasonal jamboree, and an opportunity to waste public resources in the pretext of constitutional amendments that never come to fruition.”
Why Nigeria needs a new Constitution – Odusote
Asked if Nigeria needs a new Constitution instead of piecemeal amendments, legal scholar, Abiodun Odusote, said: “Yes. Nigeria has a written Constitution. Its provisions should ordinarily be contained in one document.
“It is becoming extremely difficult to keep track of these amendments. And some don’t have the support of the majority of the citizens because they were not subjected to genuine public debates.
“The process leading to having a new Constitution is more complex and cumbersome, but it is the only viable path in the long term.”
Nagging questions
Should Nigeria continue with the amendments until the grundnorm becomes a federal codebook or tackle the issue once and for all through a new conference, which outcome will be subjected to a referendum? Can the National Assembly legislate itself out of power by agreeing to the clamour for a new Constitution as the 1999 Constitution empowers it to make laws?
Lawmaking powers of NASS
Sections 4 (1) & (2) of the 1999 Constitution provides:
(1) “The legislative powers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be vested in a National Assembly for the Federation, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.
(2) The National Assembly shall have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Federation or any part thereof with respect to any matter included in the Exclusive Legislative List set out in Part 1 of the Second Schedule to this Constitution.”
