The National Assembly, last week, served Nigerians a notice on the commencement of the process for the amendment of the 1999 Constitution, as amended. When the exercise is completed, it would be the fourth time the constitution would be amended in the 21 years of the country’s current democracy. The constitution, which was prepared under military government, was amended twice during the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo. The third exercise was done during the President Goodluck Jonathan administration.

In its notice, the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution said the National Assembly had commenced “the process of further alteration to the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).”

The notice, signed by the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, who is chairman of the National Assembly Constitution Review Committee, asked the “general public, executive and judicial bodies, civil society organisations, professional bodies and other interest groups to submit memoranda or proposals for further alteration(s) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) on the under-listed matters and on any other matter that will promote good governance and welfare of all persons in our country on the principles of freedom, equality and justice.”

The committee listed areas of interest as gender equality for women and girls, the federal structure and power devolution, local government/local government autonomy, public revenue, fiscal federation and revenue allocation, Nigerian police and Nigerian security architecture, comprehensive judicial reforms, electoral reforms to strengthen the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deliver transparently credible free and fair elections, socio-economic and cultural rights as contained in Chapter 2 of the constitution, strengthening the independence of oversight institutions and agencies created by the constitution or pursuant to an act of the National Assembly, residency and indigene provisions, immunity, the National Assembly and state creation. The constitution review committee said all documents relating to the listed areas or any other area whatsoever should be submitted not later than 14 days from the date of the public notice.

Since the 1999 constitution is not cast in stone, there is nothing wrong with further amendment by the National Assembly, to make it sync with the reality of the times. However, in amending the constitution, the people require members of the National Assembly to be forthright, sincere and nationalistic, knowing that the constitution is a fundamental instrument of governance. In amending the constitution, therefore, the federal lawmakers, and their counterparts at the state Houses of Assembly, should be above board. They should see themselves as representatives of Nigerians, and not apologists of their political parties, who have the responsibility to make laws for good governance of the country.

At a time when many Nigerians are agitated about the goings-on in the country and calling for restructuring of Nigeria, the onus is on the National Assembly to, through constitution alteration, address those things that have put a blight on equity, fairness and justice. Nigerians desire that the National Assembly makes the constitution a document that will truly represent their wishes, so that there will be true meaning to this affirmation: “We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; having firmly and solemnly resolved, to provide for a Constitution for the purpose of promoting the good government and welfare of all persons in our country on the principles of freedom, equality and justice, and for the purpose of consolidating the unity of our people, and to live in unity and harmony as one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign nation under God dedicated to the promotion of inter-African solidarity, and world peace, international co-operation and understanding, do hereby make, enact and give to ourselves the following constitution.” When the constitution represents the wishes and aspirations of the people, it has their imprimatur.

Previous amendments have not given the component units of Nigeria the satisfaction they expect. Some sections of the country have, therefore, expressed the view that past exercises had been a waste of time and resources. The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) recently came out strongly to fault the proposed fourth amendment of the 1999 constitution. Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, director of publicity, speaking on behalf of the NEF in Abuja, urged Nigerians not to support the exercise because previous ones “wasted time, resources and energy of the nation.”

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The NEF pointedly said: “Nothing fundamental or of any value has come out of these grand schemes to exploit our collective desire to address our political and economic fundamentals. This National Assembly is also following suit, and it should not be encouraged on this path.” The group said Nigeria’s future “rests largely on its willingness to address major constraints to equity and justice, a functional structure, consistent good governance, security for all citizens, a credible electoral process, growing understanding between and among all groups and an economy that grows and narrows inequalities between classes and regions.” This is a valid point.

Likewise, the Eastern Consultative Assembly discountenanced the National Assembly’s proposed amendment, recommending a constituent assembly that would fashion a people-oriented constitution. According to Elliot Uko, secretary of the group, “the constitution amendment project embarked upon by the National Assembly, aside from serving as a conduit pipe to siphon scarce national resources, will not, in all sincerity, serve any useful purpose whatsoever.” Delivering its verdict, the group said: “The unitary 1999 constitution ought to be discarded and replaced with a people’s constitution. The confidence of the people needs to be restored in our constitution, only when the people feel part of the making of the constitution. The military crafted, superintended and supervised the 1999 unitary document that has proven deficient and faulty through practice.”

The National Assembly should be worried that many Nigerians are not satisfied with what was done in the past in the area of constitution amendment. People are disenchanted with the conduct of their representatives in the legislative arm of government. Therefore, the National Assembly should strive to use the fourth amendment of the 1999 constitution to address issues that would assuage the feelings of the majority of Nigerians. Some of the areas that have been listed are germane and should be decisively looked into, with all sincerity.

Something must be done to the federal structure of Nigeria. The state structure must be strengthened, with power devolution, whereby the states have more powers and resources, while the central government exercises less control, apart from areas relating to external security, diplomacy, etc. Towards this end, some things in the Exclusive List should be removed and put in the Concurrent List.  Local government autonomy is imperative, being another segment of governance. The practice whereby state governments exercise dominion on the local government authority, to the extent of sacking elected council officers at will and not conducting local government elections, is an anathema to democratic principles.

The National Assembly, through constitution amendment, must do something to ensure fiscal federalism and review of revenue allocation. There has been concern about revenue sharing formula among the federal, state and local governments. The current formula of 52.68 per cent, 26.72 per cent and 20.60 per cent for the federal, state and local governments, respectively, is no longer tenable. States should now get more resources, while being held accountable more strongly by the state Houses of Assembly.

The structure of the police needs to be looked into and seriously too. Community policing would not solve the problem of insecurity. Nigeria is ripe for state police. This would help in internal security of the country.  Well-thought-out electoral reforms would help in the quest for credible elections. This calls for amendment of the section that discourages electronic voting, from which electronic transition and collation of result should be anchored.  Most especially, the inequity in the number of states must be addressed. A situation where other geopolitical zones have six states, with one zone having seven states and the South East pigeonholed in five states is unacceptable. The National Assembly should create one additional state in the South East to correct this imbalance.

Much has been said about the 2014 National Conference, wherein Nigerians gathered to agree on some fundamental things. The best memorandum or resource the National Assembly needs in this constitution amendment exercise is to get the report of the 2014 National Conference and incorporate what Nigerians agreed upon in that august meeting into the constitution amendment. The National Assembly should see this constitution amendment exercise as a national service, devoid of politics and sectional sentiments, through which the foundation for equity, fairness and justice would be laid and ensured.