1999 Constitution “Due For Replacement”

John Ayoade, an emeritus professor at the University of Ibadan (UI), says tinkering and tweaking the 1999 constitution will still not make it the type that addresses the plethora of challenges that Nigeria faces.

Ayoade, who was a member of the 2005 national political reform conference, called for the complete overhaul and replacement of the constitution.

He made the call while delivering a recent lecture at the 2020 Senator Abiola Ajimobi Foundation (SAAF) programme at the International Conference Centre in Oyo state.

Ekohotblog reports that the lecture, which was organised in collaboration with the university’s Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies (IPSS), was titled, “Nigeria: A nation of states or a state of nations”.

Ayoade said what Nigeria needs is a new federal constitution, faulting the current one as concentrating and giving too much power to the states.

He said the only thing that makes the constitution federal is the name, noting that nothing in its suggests federalism.

“The 1999 constitution is long overdue for replacement. It is not a federal constitution except in name. It is a constitution that gives insufficient power to the states and uses financial power to neutralise even those powers. What we need is a total replacement,” he said.

“Secondly, the constitution is not written in a marketplace. We never produce a good constitution. How many people wrote the US constitution? Was it written by the entire world?”

He said the 1979 constitution is the best constitution we had so far, adding: “A group of 49 selected experts produced the 1979 constitution.”

“The national assembly should not have anything to do with the amendment of the constitution. The servant cannot write his own scheme of work. Otherwise, he will write for himself,” he added.

He averred that Nigeria bizarre amalgam of a unitary federation will sooner a later becomes fully established, noting that the tradition of engendering melee in the name of making a constitution must be done away with.

“Our experience has shown that a small panel of experts who are conversant with Nigeria and the aspirations of the people will be more appropriate to draw up a constitution than the hodge-podge that are usually empaneled under the guise of representation” He said

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Ayoade said the type of constitution the country needs is one that will not inhibit the states from reaching their full economic and political potential.

He recommended a slim government, noting that the relationship between Federal and state must be based on the principle “that whatever can be done at any lower level is constitutionally assigned to that level.”