From last week,  continues the argument that the 1999 Constitution was made in hurry because by the gubernatorial elections on February 20, 1999 and the presidential  election on February 29, 1999, the new Constitution was not ready; and that by 1999, the 1979 Constitution  was still suspended; likewise, the 1988 Constitution prepared by the Constituent Assembly headed by Justice Anthony Aniagolu was not available.

Also, the 1995 Constitution prepared by the Constituent Assembly headed by Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte (1932-2020) was also not ready. At the time the elections were held in February 1999, the 1999 Constitution being prepared by Justice Niki Tobi (July 14, 1940 – June 19, 2016) was also not ready. In his wisdom, General Abdusalam Abubakar did not constitute a Constituent Assembly to give the country a new Constitution, he only relied on the Constitutional Debate Co-ordinating Committee headed by Justice Niki Tobi. 

Justice Niki Tobi was born in Esanma, Bomadi LGA, in what is now Delta State. Prior to his career at the bench, he was the dean of Faculty of Law and deputy vice-chancellor (academic services), University of Maiduguri. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2002. 

He was known for his legal erudition and wide knowledge of legal principles.

Justice Tobi made attempts before and after the elections to have an audience with General Abubakar through the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Gidado Idris. He succeeded in seeing him twice.

Only General Abdusalam Abubakar (82) can explain better why he jettisoned the idea of a Constituent Assembly to give the country a new constitution. My understanding is that General Abubakar wanted to leave power at a short notice. He must have been jolted by the death of Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola(August 24, 1937 –July 7, 1998), acclaimed winner of the 1993 presidential election and the sudden death of the man he succeeded, General Sani Abacha (September 20, 1943-June 8, 1998) on June 8, 1998.

 In short, he wanted to retire to Minna in good health. Were he to be alive today, Justice Niki Tobi will be surprised that the 1999 Constitution which his team prepared as draft is still in existence today although with some amendments. In my discussion with him at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, where I was posted from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation as a member of the adhoc staff of the Constitutional Debate Co-ordinating Committee, he said several times that the draft will be subjected to many amendments by the Provisional Ruling Council.

Realising the numerous lapses in the Constitution, one of the first things President Olusegun Obasanjo did was to review the 1999 Constitution by setting up a committee headed by Ambassador Yusuf Mamman. The committee was inaugurated on October 19, 1999 by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Kanu Agabi, with the following terms of Reference: To co-ordinate and collate the views and recommendations from individuals and groups for a review of the Constitution, having regard to the need to maintain the corporate existence and unity of the nation; to identify and specify all anomalies, irregularities and defects inherent in the existing Constitution and make appropriate recommendations to correct such anomalies, irregularities; to make proposals for the review of the Constitution to ensure that it reflects the true experiences, wishes and aspirations of the people and suggest ways and means of making the Constitution an expression of the will of the people; and to address the lingering problems of power sharing between the Federal and State Governments and between States and Local Governments. 

To be concluded 

•Teniola, a former director at the Presidency, wrote from Lagos.