Legal luminary, Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) has called on President Bola Tinubu to earnestly begin to work on changing the 1999 Constitution to achieve his “renewed hope agenda.”
Agbakoba, who spoke to newsmen in his Lagos office, yesterday, on “Governance strategy for President Tinubu,” submitted that it is going to be practically impossible for the Nigerian leader to build his lofty ideas on the weak structure.
The senior lawyer noted that while he may not call for another Sovereign National Conference (SNC) in view of Section 4 of the Constitution, it is possible to have a constitution replacement as was done in 1963 to outlaw the independence constitution.
“National Assembly can adopt wholesale constitutional replacement as suggested by Prof (Ben) Nwabueze under Sections 4(1) and 315(1) (a) & (4) of the 1999 Constitution,” he said.
Agbakoba observed that the fundamental problem with the 1999 Constitution was not its content, but lack of acceptability and legitimacy.
He said the real owners of Nigeria are not happy and ready to accept the 1999 Constitution because they were not involved in its making, adding that there is need for different ethnic groups to agree on terms to live together to have peace and security.
His words: “Government needs to resolve critical national questions. Are we a country, state, or nation? Do we intend to live together as one country and how? Once these questions are answered, it will set the stage for a new political arrangement that can be articulated in a new Constitution.
“Government can engage sub-national ethnic leaders (Ohaneze, Arewa, and Afenirere). They have national appeal, and can provide alternatives. Current National Assembly has powers to facilitate this process under the Constitution.”
The senior lawyer said a system that undermines the influence of traditional rulers in governance cannot work, adding that monarchs can effectively curtail the security challenges facing the country.
“We cannot solve our security problems with military solutions because the whole country is being terrorised. Let them spend trillions of naira to procure arms and ammunitions, you can’t find anybody to shoot because conventional methods cannot defeat terrorists, bandits and kidnappers,” he added.
The new constitution, according to him, should include “massive devolution of powers from the federal to state governments, strengthening of institutions that support democracy and guaranteeing of local government autonomy.”
