Kabiru Ibrahim Legal
practitioner
Having a new Constitution to me is not the way forward for us to get out of the situation we find ourselves in.

The ongoing public hearing on constitutional review is another opportunity for Nigerians to come up with issues and areas that they feel the constitution should be amended.

The existing constitution is good enough. With the existing constitution, we can tackle the problem we have. If you have issues with amending the constitution as we have seen so far, in other countries, the solution most countries adopted are very clear.

I have not seen a place anywhere where the constitution was completely thrown away and replaced with another new constitution. The existing constitution is good; there is nothing wrong with it. If people have problems, the existing problem we have can be settled under the existing constitution. The constitution we have now is better; we don’t need a new constitution. I don’t agree that the 1999 Constitution has so many errors.

The 1999 Constitution, as we have now, doesn’t have errors. What we have is non-compliance. For example, the issue of state autonomy, judiciary and state legislature, under the constitution, there is a provision that clearly stated that the funding for these two arms of government should come directly from the Federal Government, but what is obtained in practice is quite different from what the constitution stipulated.

So, the constitution has already made a provision for them to be effective. If we can comply strictly with the provisions of the constitution, I don’t think we need to amend it. I don’t think we need to bring in a new constitution. The existing constitution is safe and has made provisions for everything

Kunle Olubiyo
Barrister

The question of changing the entire constitution to a brand new one does not arise here. If not for ignorance, such does not happen in a presidential system of government which Nigeria adopted from the USA in 1979 after dumping the parliamentary system inherited from Britain in 1960.

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So, the idea remains that any change that would take place, no matter how enormous it is, must be titled constitutional amendment, and that is why that of 1999 is still as amended.

In the presidential system, the nation’s constitution is not entirely dropped for a new one.

In amending a constitution, it may require transferring key components of the economic sector, which has been in the concurrent list to an exclusive list, to ensure speedy development.

The system we are running in Nigeria shows that our constitution is a mixed bag. For example, while we adopted the presidential system from the USA, in practice, we partly involve the parliamentary.

Our practice should be totally presidential, and that is why some of us find the call for power devolution or resource control unreasonable.

The fact is either of two things, being greedy about power or being totally ignorant of the practice.

Very awkward in implementation, there are about four or three components that are supposed to be controlled by the states for resource control and that is the true definition of the presidential system.

The issue remains that the country is under a military hangover, and that is why things are still going the way it is going.

And since we adopted the presidential system, we should also allow all the components of the presidential system to work more, especially when it has to do with the devolution of powers. So, the states should be in control of the resources within their domains. That is a key component of the presidential system of government. I think that is what the National Assembly should be discussing now that there is a clamour for constitutional amendment or restructuring.

And as you can see, things are not working as they should because we do not practice what our constitution reads for us.

In Nigeria, people are still being ruled as if there is no constitution, just as if we are in a military system.

Like I told you, in the presidential system, we call it a constitutional amendment, not outright jettisoning of the constitution, even if it means changing all the chapters.

Paul Adoiza Omoluabi
Lawyer/pastor

An Amendment can be formal or informal.

Formal amendment is usually effected by the legislature, while the informal ones are usually carried out by the superior courts of records in the process of interpreting the constitution or exercising their powers of judicial review.

Our concern is formal amendment. The new constitution is created by the legislature under a democratic government.

The question of whether Nigeria needs an amended constitution, or a brand new constitution is certainly not the appropriated question, but whether there was a constitution that enshrined the basic principles of federalism in Nigeria.

If there was, are these principles being implemented in reality?

An amended constitution is as good as a new constitution, if the procedure for amendment was duly followed, and all challenging issues addressed.

It has been argued over time that the extant constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not autochthonous. A constitution is autochthonous if it is homegrown and indigenous to the people. In other words, it is homemade, reflecting the wishes and aspirations of the entire country.

It is important that the National Assembly should support the current call for amendment and harmonise all the challenging issues in Nigeria and give Nigerians a constitution that reflects our peculiarity, as well as address issues that threaten the unity of the country.

There should be an amended constitution that will represent the interest of the people.

The Constituent Assembly must ensure its representatives represent the people and there is no foreign or military inference. The final amendment must be subjected to referendum by the people.

We cannot afford to trade off this opportunity, because this will enable Nigerians to correct all the fundamental errors that brought the 1999 Constitution into existence.

Richmond Ideaho
Lawyer

There have been a couple of amendments (otherwise alterations) to the 1999 Constitution. These amendments have not strictly speaking addressed the yearnings of Nigerians.

They are in isolation from the main issues. They have not addressed the main challenge faced by Nigerians.

That is why there is every need to put behind these unworkable alterations and embrace a brand new constitution that will genuinely reflect our true aspirations as a people.

The question of whether 1999 Constitution is aucthotonous or not remains debatable among scholars and legal practitioners, hence, a constitutional review is long overdue. However, will a constitutional amendment serve this purpose? I think not. Nigerians want a constitutional overhaul, more than just mere amendments. It is imperative to have a national discourse where all stakeholders will be involved in the drafting and formulation of a new constitution.

In that way, Nigeria would have birthed a truly national and democratic constitution.

There have been several agitations from different quarters for a constitutional review cutting across security and the demand for state police, resource control, state creation, items in the exclusive legislative list, local government autonomy, workability of the federal system, the enforceability of social, economic, and political rights, especially as contained in Chapter 2 of the 1999 Constitution, amongst others.

All of these, if to they are to be attended to, cannot be adequately addressed by amendment, but a properly re-enacted democratic constitution.

Ezeh Onyekpere
Legal practitioner

No, the question here is absurd. It can only take place during the military rule, which was Nigerians’ problem with the 1999 amended constitution, which has so many flaws, because it was designed by the military.

We have been trying to amend so many sections of the constitution since the military handed over, yet a lot still needs to be done.

Our constitution in a presidential system of government is short of every requirement needed.

We should be able to amend a lot of things to enable our economy to take into account all that have been negated.

It is not legal to advocate for a total change of the constitution, and what we do is constitution amendment. But what we are talking about is to ensure that true democracy is enshrined, by allowing a complete overhaul of the constitution.

We must allow every part of this country to be fully represented in the constitution amendment.

It will ensure proper devolution of power and peaceful co-existence among Nigerians.

You see when we talk of democracy in Nigeria, it is pure lip service, because we are not near to what democracy portends.

Just take a look at countries that practice democracy under the presidential system of government; they are far developed because power is not concentrated at the centre. On our own, we fail to put these things in check, more especially, when ethnicity and religion have overshadowed every constitutional provision and right of every man.

Like our president said, national interest supersedes constitutional provisions. So, things have been happening according to how our leaders feel, not what is obtainable in the constitution. We are not just talking of the damage of under development which the constitution had done to the country, but how to galvanize human and material resources to ensure that we get it better this time.

And as you can see, the call for restructuring through constitution amendment gathers momentum every day.