In a recent National Constitution Dialogue, The Patriots, a think-tank group, and other participants have urged the use of the 2014 National Confab Report and the 1963 Republican Constitution as the basis for discussions on a new Nigerian Constitution.
They highlighted the deficiencies of the 1999 Constitution, particularly its failure to foster inclusivity and its lack of foundational legitimacy.
The General Secretary of The Patriots, Olawale Okunniyi, emphasized in a communique that the 1999 Constitution’s presidential system has led to a “politics of alienation and increasing appetite for state capture,” resulting in widespread disenchantment. The group maintained that amendments could not rectify the constitution’s inherent legitimacy issues.
The dialogue participants also called for a commitment to end political impunity and to reform the security infrastructure, including the establishment of state police. They advocated for a reconfiguration of Nigeria’s governance system to correct imbalances in the current federal structure.
Furthermore, The Patriots announced plans to form a team dedicated to engaging with the Nigerian populace, the Presidency, and the National Assembly to garner support for the proposed constitutional changes, aiming to achieve national cohesion, stability, and prosperity under a new democratic constitution.
“The national dialogue concluded that: the prevailing 1999 Constitution and its brand of presidential system fosters politics of alienation and increasing appetite for state capture amongst the ruling elite to the exclusion of a large section of Nigerian citizens; leading to disenchantment across the country, while also asserting that the constitution, by its flawed origin, lacks legitimacy, which it cannot acquire from any number of amendments.
“The dialogue also affirmed that the draft Constitution of the 2014 National Conference and the 1963 Republican Constitution of Nigeria, by their representative and popular character, are generally acceptable national documents as platforms for popular deliberations and consensual recommendations towards birthing a new democratic people’s constitution for Nigeria through an elective Constituents Assembly or national referendum to be initiated by the Federal Government through relevant provisions of the extant laws of Nigeria,” the communique read.
The Dialogue also suggested a genuine commitment to ending political impunity, reforming the security infrastructure through the creation of state police, and the reconfiguration of the country’s governance system and structure to address the imbalance in the existing federalism, among other suggestions.
It added, “There is a need for a genuine commitment to ending the culture of political impunity which engenders corruption, promotes monetisation of politics and undermines competence and commitment to patriotism; urgent holistic appraisal of the security situation in Nigeria to engender decisive and robust intervention in the pervasive insecurity ravaging the country; reform of existing security infrastructure through the creation of state police and localisation of police command structure to enhance inclusive participation in community and neighbourhood security across Nigeria.
“There is also a need for the reconfiguration of the country’s governance system and structure to address the imbalance in the existing federalism to guarantee fiscal responsibility and accountability in governance as well as enhance accelerated development across Nigeria; strengthening of existing democratic institutions to safeguard democracy, guarantee pro-people governance and make political actors accountable to the people; and deepening of democracy and governance at the grassroots to give a sense of belonging to the mass of Nigerian stakeholders”.
