By Omeiza Ajayi

Elder statesman and former Governor of Akwa Ibom state, Obong Victor Attah has asked the National Assembly to stop wasting its energy and scarce resources on constitutional amendments, but rather initiate steps to give Nigerians a new constitution as opposed to the usual ritual of embarking on piecemeal amendments.

Attah who gave the charge in a memo he presented to the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution at its zonal public hearing in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said the current constitution is incapable of resolving Nigeria’s complex challenges.

He said; “You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear is a popular English saying which applies in a very apt manner to the current exercise that is being undertaken to further ‘amend’ the present 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended).

“It is not any wonder therefore that from every corner of this country today, a loud cry is being raised for restructuring and a rebirth. Just as it is not possible to change black into white by alteration or amendment but only by replacement or substitution, the present constitution (as amended) cannot be made to meet the aspirations of the people through further alterations or amendments. What is required is a total replacement.

“A discussion on the sixteen issues listed for the public hearing and any others for that matter cannot provide the required answers to our troubling constitutional problems which are fundamental.
Our attention today should be focused on two fundamental issues:

“Do we want to continue with the Unitary system of government that we are practicing today or do we want to reestablish true fiscal federalism?

“Do we want to retain the current presidential method of governance or do we want to return to the parliamentary system that was agreed to at independence in 1960?

“Superficial alterations to the current constitution, however well considered, cannot provide answers to these fundamental issues given the fact that a negative response to any one of the two questions above would automatically call for a new constitution”.

According to Attah, no amount of amendments can cure the fundamental and disabling flaws in the present constitution.

READ ALSO: Police react to Gulak’s murder, say ‘he left hotel room without informing police’

“What is required which is what we must have is a totally new constitution made by the people for the people, and sanctioned by a national referendum.

“What the National Assembly, as an assemblage of elected representatives of the people, needs to do is to work out how this can be achieved in the shortest possible time rather than continue to waste its energy and scarce resources on further amendments.

“When this is done, we will be able to proudly and truthfully acclaim that: We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria do hereby make and give to ourselves the following constitution”.

‘Unitary system fuelling challenges’

The former governor who is the co-Chairman, Board of Trustees BoT, Pan Niger Delta Forum PANDEF added that Nigeria’s unitary system is at the root of its national challenges.

“It took seven years, from the time that Anthony Enahoro moved a motion for Nigeria’s independence in 1953 till 1960, for our founding fathers to painstakingly negotiate and work out a suitable constitution and governance structure for the union. Those negotiations resulted in the 1960 independence constitution for Nigeria.

“The provisions of that constitution, as agreed to by all the diverse peoples of this country, leave nobody in any doubt as to the manner in which the country was to be governed and administered.

“The constitution provided for a true fiscal federation under a parliamentary system that allowed a large measure of autonomy to the federating units. The unitary system that we operate today stands in complete antithesis to the federal system that was negotiated and agreed to by all. This fact, and this fact only, is at the bottom of all the challenges that the country faces today”, he submitted.

Vanguard News Nigeria