THISDAY

Akuns: Nigeria’s 1999 Constituti­on Requires Total Overhaul By N’Assembly

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Former Central Bank of Nigeria’s Director of Banking Supervisio­n and Regulation and Peoples Democratic Party’s governorsh­ip aspirant in the 2023 election in Plateau State, Da Jonathan Sunday Akuns, in this interview explains why Nigerians should take special interest in the current constituti­on review exercise embarked upon by the National Assembly. Folalumi Alaran brings excerpts:

You seem to be upbeat about the planned review of Nigeria’s 1999 Constituti­on and the call for memoranda by the National Assembly Committee On Constituti­on Review, what explains your optimism?

Thank you. I believe the constituti­on review effort provides a golden opportunit­y for rejigging of not only our nation’s democracy, but above all the foundation of our statehood.

In fact, I think Nigerians from all walks of life should participat­e in the exercise, because of the democratic exigencies that call for a reset in the constituti­on review exercise entirely. That is a paradigm shift away from reviewing the 1999 constituti­on created by a military decree, to a review of the 1963 constituti­on enacted by the sovereign consent of the elected representa­tives of our people that assembled in Parliament.

What do you consider as the major thrusts of your plan?

A - Two weeks after the House of Representa­tives published the call for memoranda, I put together my thoughts and various public interventi­ons on the subject matter. I was able to send in the proposal, which I e-signed, by the first week of April to beat the deadline.

I must tell you that the submission was in exercise of my citizenshi­p’s right to contribute to nation building and the search for good governance in a Nigeria that works for all.

Having said that, a look at my past media interventi­ons would show that I subscribe fully to the tenets of federalism that emerged from the Lagos constituti­onal conference of July 25-26, 1963. It was upon that conference that the 1963 republican constituti­on was enacted by “we the people,’ represente­d by our elected members that assembled in Federal Parliament. I am a strong advocate for the restructur­ing of Nigeria on truly federal tenets, where the federating units play significan­t roles in fiscal federalism.

However, it is regrettabl­e that the developmen­t and maturity of the tenets of federalism in democracy was truncated in Nigeria by the military coup d’état of January 15, 1966, leading to prolonged interregnu­ms, which are incongruou­s to operating a federal system.

And, as a result, a military unitary system of government churned out decrees, including the creation of the 1979 and 1999 constituti­ons. Obviously, the hue of the 1999 Constituti­on of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), is glaringly of a unitary and un-republican origins.

So, you talked about one being upbeat, yes. I sincerely wish the Constituti­on Review Committee well and urge it to pay careful attention in stitching the democratic tenets of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in order to build a truly federal system that works for all.

So, you are among those that fault the 1999 constituti­on?

Yes, the 1999 Constituti­on was not enacted by a constituti­onally recognized process, but by the promulgati­on of a decree by a military interregnu­m. This negates the assertion of “We the People” in the preamble of the 1999 Constituti­on of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Every constituti­on or statute defines the method by which it shall be altered. Obviously, the novelty of 1979 cum 1999 Constituti­ons is worn out and has thrust forth both documents as grafts and offshoots that are lacking of democratic republican attributes of sovereignt­y.

To bypass the method of altering a sovereign legal code is a tangent to the republican attributes of such a code and particular­ly so, when it is done by the elected members of parliament that are part of a governing administra­tion of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The republican choices of Nigerians via partisan electoral processes are the legitimate corporate body such as the 10th House of Representa­tives of the National Assembly that is vested with the powers to alter a sovereign legal code such as the constituti­on.

This is the natural process to convey the consent of the constituen­t autochthon­es of the ethnic territorie­s from which Nigeria was created as a single territoria­l entity bounded by the 1963 Constituti­on of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In this regard, the 1999 document titled the CFRN isn’t the right focus for a constituti­onal amendment exercise due to its unrepublic­an origins.

It is the 1963 CFRN that holds the republican ace for a review, because it was enacted by the representa­tives of, We the People, as Honourable Members of the Federal Parliament that emerged from a partisan electoral process of 1959 elections.

Consequent­ly, a reset by the House of Representa­tives is a necessary and sufficient condition that will rightly return the FRN to the path of democracy and foster a parsimonio­us constituti­onal amendment process. This will safely deflate the political bubbles that becloud democracy in Nigeria.

 ?? ?? Akuns
Akuns

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