New constitution necessary to save Nigeria – NBA ex-chair
Aformer president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, has appealed to lawmakers at the National Assembly to come up with a new constitution capable of strengthening major national institutions and saving the country.
Agbakoba, in a statement in Lagos, yesterday, described Nigeria’s democracy as “fragile” that necessitates the need to strengthen prominent national institutions.
“Nigeria’s democracy is fragile. Recent happenings in the country make it imperative for the National Assembly to strengthen national institutions that support democracy.
“Specifically, institutions like INEC, Police, ICPC, Office of the Accountant General, National Judicial Council, Office of the Attorney General, CBN, National Human Rights Commission, the Judicature, EFCC, Public Defender, Code of Conduct Bureau etc need to be strengthened,” he said.
According to him, “Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution establishes some of these national institutions but they are only executive agencies. They have no practical constitutional guarantees for independence and effective functioning.
“We should borrow a leaf from Chapter 9 of the Constitution of South Africa titled ‘Institutions Consolidating Democracy’. It is suggested that Chapter 9 of the South African Constitution should replace Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution,” he said.
Agbakoba further said that the National Assembly could do that by either exercising its powers under Section 9, by introducing a Fifth Alteration Bill titled: ‘Institutions Consolidating Democracy’ or by exercising its powers under Section 4 (1) and 315 (1) by repealing the present constitution entirely and simultaneously replacing it with a new constitution.
“I had taken the view that the constitution is a living document and should be altered as situations arise. But with recent happenings, I do not believe this approach is feasible in the context of our fragile democracy. I propose a new constitution for Nigeria,” he said.