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Following a National Constitution Dialogue hosted by a think-thank group known as The Patriots, stakeholders have recommended the adoption of the 2014 National Confab Report and the 1963 Republican Constitution as platforms for deliberations of a new Constitution.
This was contained in a communique signed by the General Secretary of The Patriots, Olawale Okunniyi.
The communiqué reads in part: “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.
