Nigeria Needs New Constitution, Not Amendment – Akande

By Ismaeel Uthman

A former governor of Osun State, Chief Adebisi Akande has described the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has the greatest misadventure of the country, saying that the law could not make the progress of Nigeria work.

Akande made call for the replacement of the Constitution with the 1963 Republican Constitution to enable a transition for the writing of a suitable constitution.

The first interim national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) made the remarks at the presentation of a book titled “Nigeria: the Path We Refused to Take” written by Basorun Seinde Arogbofa in Akure.

He said, the 1999 constitution ‘can never be beneficially reviewed’, maintaining that the ongoing constitutional amendments could only ‘totally blot the essence of national values and accelerate the de-amalgamation of Nigeria.”

According to Akande, the Nigerian constitution breeds and protects corrupt practices and impunity in governance, adding that Nigeria began as a controversial state of many nations.

Akande said, “The 1999 Constitution is Nigeria’s greatest misadventure since Lugard’s amalgamation of 1914. The constitution puts emphasis on spending rather than making money, thereby intensifying the battles for supremacy between the legislature and the executive while the judiciary is being corruptly tainted and discredited.

“The constitution breeds and protects corrupt practices and criminal impunities in governance. The 1999 Constitution can never be beneficially reviewed and the ongoing piecemeal adjustments or amendments can only totally blot the essence of national values and accelerate the de-amalgamation of Nigeria.

“All the angels coming from heavens cannot make that constitution work for the progress of Nigeria. It should only be scrapped as a bad relic of military mentality; and it ought to be temporarily replaced with the 1963 Republican Constitution to enable a transition for the writing of a suitable constitution.

“Otherwise, the 1999 constitution would continue to dwarf Nigeria’s economy and stifle the country’s social structure pending a disastrous and catastrophic bankruptcy.

Akande warned against criminal revolution in the country, calling on all Nigerians to begin the search for a better future, just as he prayed for farewell on the way out of the country’s present ‘Sorry pass’.

The APC chieftain also noted that the military involvements in Nigerian politics for 29 out of 57 years of independence has drawn back and miniaturised the sense of democracy and good governance among Nigerian political leaders.

He stated that the military incursion into Nigerian politics has bastardised the political system so much that political discussions are no longer issue-based or interesting, warning that the situation has become very dangerous for the future of the society-particularly among the growing youths.