President Bola Tinubu received members of The Patriots, a group of eminent Nigerians led by former Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku, at the State House in Abuja.
The president assured the group that he would review their request to convene a national constituent assembly to draft a new constitution.
Chief Anyaoku appealed to the president to send an executive bill to the National Assembly, proposing the convening of a national constituent assembly.
He said, “They should be assisted by seven constitutional lawyers, one drawn from each of the six geo-political zones and the FCT. The deliberations of the constituent assembly should take into full account the 1960/63 constitutions, as well as the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference and indeed of the various national conferences that considered the Nigerian constitutions.”
Anyaoku also requested legislating for a national plebiscite to which the draft constitution emerging from the constituent assembly should be subjected.
“The draft constitution, produced by the constituent assembly, should be put to a national referendum and if approved, should then be signed by the President as the genuine Nigerian people’s constitution,” he said.
Responding to the requests, President Tinubu expressed respect for The Patriots and their contributions to national discourse.
Tinubu said, “I have listened to you carefully, and this is not a group that I can ignore. This is a group of patriots reflecting the heart and aspirations of society. I thank all of you for being here.”
The president assured the group that he would address their requests, saying, “I want to assure all of you that as I listened to your two major requests on the path to referendum and that should lead to constitutional measures that will fit our diversity and governance so that we avoid conflicts and break-ups.”
Tinubu also acknowledged the longstanding issue of constitutional reforms in national discourse, citing examples from pluralistic countries like Canada and India.
He said, “The avoidance of chaos is necessary to build this country and move its aspirations forward for the benefit of all of us.”
The president concluded by paying tributes to the founding chairman of The Patriots, Chief Rotimi Williams, and Professor Ben Nwabueze.
He added, “The question on the minds of many Nigerians is: ‘How will Nigeria be governed constitutionally, legitimately without unnecessary aches and pains of its diversity and this needs to be addressed constitutionally, so that we can build a nation that we can proudly hand over a banner without stain to our children.'”
