NASS on another constitutional alteration jamboree

 

On   July 15, I was among the eminent panellists who discussed the ongoing alteration of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution on Tuesday Live on NTA. The programme, anchored by veteran broadcaster Cyril Stober, had on the panel Chief J.S. Okutepa, SAN, Prof. Dakas J.C. Dakas, SAN, Dr Tunji Abayomi and me. During the discussion, we looked at the desirability or otherwise of continuous alteration of our grundnorm rather than having a process-led, autochthonous, people-driven constitution, the kind of which Kenya did in 2010. We also analysed several areas the Constitution needs to be tinkered with. We finally submitted that amending the constitution is not the magic wand that will bring about good governance and prosperity to our dear country, but the right attitude of the operators.

The principle of the rule of law stands on a tripod. Supremacy of the law, equality before the law and fundamental human rights. In Nigeria, our successive leaders are in breach of these three core values of the rule of law. If there is constitutionalism, otherwise called supremacy and observance of the law, there shouldn’t be a situation where, despite two previous amendments of the constitution in 2018 and 2023 to give financial and administrative autonomy to the state judiciary and Houses of Assembly, we will have governors constituting a stumbling block to the full implementation of this law. If there is supremacy of the law, the Supreme Court of Nigeria will not give a verdict on July 11, 2024, to have local government funds sent to them directly rather than via the grossly abused state joint local government account and one year after, this judgement of the highest court of the land will still be snubbed.

If we’re practising true democracy, the successive presidents, including the current one, will not routinely declare a state of emergency and suspend governors, deputy governors and House of Assembly members as presently done by President Bola Tinubu in Rivers State.  This is patently against the letter and spirit of Section 305 of the Nigerian Constitution. If we are observing the rule of law in Nigeria, we shouldn’t have a situation where democratic institutions, such as State Independent Electoral Commissions, would be routinely dissolved and reconstituted, as is the situation in Rivers State. Neither would we have a situation where elected local government chairmen and councillors will be extra-judicially removed from office and caretaker committees or sole administrators appointed in their stead.

Despite all these concerns, National Assembly is currently embarking on another multi-billion-naira jamboree of altering the Constitution for the sixth time since the advent of this Fourth Republic on May 29, 1999. The 10th National Assembly set the ball rolling in February 2024. The House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review issued a Call for Memoranda, enjoining Nigerians to submit memoranda or proposals for further amendments to the Constitution on a variety of thematic areas, including the Nigeria Police and Nigerian security architecture, public revenue, fiscal federation and revenue allocation, judicial reforms, electoral reforms, traditional institutions, gender related issues, process of state creation, state access to mining, among others. Earlier, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, on February 14, constituted a 45-member Committee on Constitution Review chaired by the Deputy President of the Senate, Jibrin Barau. In the House of Representatives, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, inaugurated the 43-member Committee on Constitution Review at an inaugural ceremony and citizens’ engagement organised by the committee on February 26, 2024, in Abuja.

Imagine, it took almost one and a half years before our federal lawmakers moved to the next critical stage of organising public hearings. Instead of having a joint Senate/House of Representatives Constitution alteration committee, the two chambers decided to have it separate. While the Senate committee held a two-day public hearing across six geo-political zones on July 4 and 5, 2025, the House of Representatives held public hearings in over a dozen centres. According to the schedule, the public hearing was conducted in two phases. The first phase, covering the northern zones, was held from Friday, July 11 to Sunday, July 13, 2025, while the second phase, covering the southern zones, was conducted from Friday, July 18 to Sunday, July 20, 2025. A national public hearing was held on Monday, July 21, 2025, in Abuja.

Key thematic areas upon which public hearing was held include electoral and judicial reforms, legislative efficiency, devolution of powers, strengthening of institutions, fiscal federalism, inclusive governance, gender equity, local government autonomy, security architecture, traditional institutions, and the creation of new states and local government areas.

The Patriots, in partnership with the Nigerian Political Summit Group, held a National Summit on the Future of Nigeria’s Constitutional Democracy from Wednesday, July 16, to Thursday, July 17, 2025, in Abuja. 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 a need for a new people-driven, inclusive, democratic Constitution anchored on true federalism. They demanded a constituent assembly, a referendum and made a bouquet of other proposals.

As I said on Political Update on Nigerian Television Authority last Friday afternoon, I appreciate and welcome the need for a new constitution as being proposed by The Patriots, but what they are requesting is not feasible under Tinubu’s administration due to time constraints. Take, for instance, billions of naira have already been expended by the National Assembly with the pledge to conclude the exercise by the end of 2025. I do not see President Tinubu throwing a spanner in the wheel of progress already made by the National Assembly. Don’t forget, President Tinubu promised a National Youth Conference in October 2024; this is July 2025. That confab has not yet been held. I learnt the Patriot met with the President last year, but he was noncommittal. I, therefore, do not see him changing his mind this year even when he receives the Patriots’ communique.

As per the National Assembly’s effort, failure to end the current constitutional reform by December 2025 will be counterproductive. This is because the 2027 general elections are scheduled for the first quarter of that year. Any electoral reform, therefore, will need to be concluded in earnest so that the Independent National Electoral Commission can factor it into the preparations for the next round of elections. Take, for instance, the Reserved Seat advocacy by Nigeria’s women groups as well as advocacy for independent candidacy. If these two proposals were to succeed, INEC would have to budget more resources than currently planned for the next round of elections. By the way, I fully support the Reserved Seat proposal to engender political inclusion of women. This was what Uganda did in Section 78 of its Constitution. It specifies that Parliament consists of directly elected members, women representatives from each district, and representatives for specific groups like youth and workers. I support state police but vehemently objected to creation of more states and local governments.

X: @jideojong