SUBMISSION BY THE NIGERIA CHRISTIAN GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP (NCGF) TO THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON THE REVIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, SEP.4, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Preamble
The call for Memoranda by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the planned review of the nation’s Constitution is timely and greatly needed. The Nigeria Christian Graduate Fellowship (NCGF) is pleased to respond to this call. However, a fundamental issue must first be raised: Does Nigeria need a review of the existing Constitution, known to be a legacy bestowed upon the country by an undemocratic and illegitimate military dictatorship or, rather a completely new Constitution which would reflect the aspirations of her teeming population? The NCGF wishes to align with those voices calling for a NEW CONSTITUTION for Nigeria. It has been frequently claimed, and also reiterated in the Report of the 2014 National Conference, that our current Constitution is “defective”, and adjudged by many to be a major stumbling block to our sense of national cohesion as well as a primary clog in the wheel of our progress and development. However, since the Senate has called for a review at this time, we respond appropriately, with the fervent hope that this will be the first step towards the evolution of a new and truly citizen-driven and citizen-oriented Constitution for the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Our primary areas of concern are listed below, in line with some of the headings itemized on the Senate Call for Memoranda:
A. Federal Structure and Power Devolution:
1. The country is called a “Federal Republic” but is currently running a highly centralized form of government. This has denied the overwhelming majority of Nigerians the benefit of having governance reach them where they are. The nation’s resources are instead being used primarily to sustain a huge federal structure and bureaucracy, rather than for providing sorely needed services to the people. As a result, most Nigerians live in abject poverty, even as we have earned the unenviable status of the “poverty capital of the world”.
We propose a new federal structure of Six Regions, based on the current six geopolitical zones. This mean that States should be abolished as most of them are not financially viable. Political power shall be devolved to the regions which shall have their own Constitution. This will allow regions to determine the system of governance best suited to them, and also enable them to fully exploit the resources available in their region for the benefit of their own people. The form of Local Government will be determined at the Regional Government level.
2. At the national level, there shall be a President and a Vice President who shall have a single term of five years.
3. The Presidency and Vice Presidency shall rotate between the South and the North sequentially and from Region to Region. (If the President is from the South, the Vice President shall be from the North, and vice versa.)
B. Comprehensive Judicial Reforms
1. The National Assembly
Nigeria operates the Presidential System of Government. Chapter 5, Sections 47-79 of Nigeria’s Constitution make provisions for a bicameral legislature. If there is any institution of the Federal Government that has become a drain pipe in the nation’s resources, it is the National Assembly, whose annual budget, if deployed elsewhere, is enough to reverse the decadence in the country’s infrastructure. A bi-cameral legislature is obviously too expensive for a developing economy like ours, especially at this time when the global pandemic has dealt a serious blow to the nation’s economy.
We propose, therefore, that the Constitution be amended to make provision for a UNICAMERAL LEGISLATURE with only the Senate which, should have equal representation by the six federating regions.
– That is, the House of Representatives shall be abolished.
– Each Region shall elect six members to the (unicameral) Senate assembly.
– A member of Senate shall serve only a single term of five years.
2. The Judiciary
A major concern of Nigerians regarding the judicial system is the extremely long period it takes for judgments to be delivered. This has led to the injustice of accused persons waiting endlessly in police custody or in the prisons – leading to overcrowding. A system must be found to established to ensure the speedy dispensation of justice at all levels and for all cases, including those relating to elections.
C. Public Revenue, Fiscal Federation and Revenue Allocation
1. All the resources found in any Region shall belong to that Region to develop and exploit to the benefit of the citizens and, ultimately, the nation at large.
2. A Revenue Contribution Formula shall be developed (to replace the current Revenue Allocation Formula) according to which each Region shall contribute a certain percentage of its revenue to the (much reduced) central government.
D. Nigerian Police and Nigerian Security Architecture
1. The driving policy to be pursued in terms of ensuring the security of the lives of citizens and their property, is that security must be locally driven. The proposed restructuring into regions should automatically take care of this concern.
2. Each Region shall have its own Regional Police (and possibly, other subsidiaries, as may be deemed necessary by the citizens) which will be overseen by the regional government.
3. Each Region shall contribute equally to the Nigerian Armed forces.
E. Socio-economic and Cultural Rights
1. Nigeria is and must remain a secular nation. Government at all levels shall not be involved in any religion or religious practice in an official capacity. That is, religion shall be a completely private and personal affair. Anything that makes her to belong to state religion must be removed. She shall not belong to any religious organization.
2. Freedom of worship and association shall be guaranteed across the entire country. Citizens shall be able to practice the religion of their choice. No citizen shall be compelled to change their religion or have any religion enforced upon them.
3. There shall be an agreement by all Regions within the Federation allowing every Nigerian citizen to live and conduct business wherever they choose, as long as they remain law-abiding citizens.
4. Residency status shall be granted to citizens from other Regions who have lived, worked and paid taxes in a Region for at least five years. This will enable them to enjoy all the rights of so-called “indigenes” (for example, contest in elections).
5. All discriminatory practices on account of gender, religion or ethnic origin will be illegal and subject to prosecution.
F. Gender Equality for Women and Girls
1. The Gender Equality Bill should be passed by the national (Senate) and regional legislatures.
2. Stiffer punishments should be meted out to those who are convicted of carrying out violent and sexual assaults on women and girls; and on boys as well.
3. Girls shall be given equal access education as their male counterparts, and schools and other spaces must be made safe for them. This is in order to ensure that the female population is able to contribute its quota to the development of the country in every sphere of endeavor.
4. There shall be no child marriages. Girls under the age of 16 must not be given out in marriage. (Indeed, it is preferable not to have forced marriages.)
G. Electoral Reforms
1. INEC shall conduct only the national elections – for the President and Vice President, and into the Senate. Regional and local government elections shall be organized by the regional governments.
2. There shall be a concerted effort to deploy technology as extensively as possible in the conduct of elections, in order to ensure their fairness and credibility, and to mitigate against the violence often associated with elections. This does not only have to do with the transmission of results, as is being currently advocated, but also in the actual casting of votes.
H. Marginalized Sub-populations
While the Senate’s Call for Memoranda did not address specifically
Nigeria’s marginalized sub-populations, we believe that the rights and care of these vulne
rable groups should be a constitutional matter as well. This is the duty and responsibility of those given the mandate to manage the country’s affairs.
1. People living with disabilities: Proper access to services and public must be provided for these ones such that they are enabled to participate as fully as possible in the life of the nation: e.g. provision of ramps at all public buildings, braille inscriptions, etc.
2. People with mental disorders: Many of such people roam our streets. The responsibility for their care must be domiciled in some organ of the state (most likely at the regional and local government level).
3. The destitute: There are millions of destitute people in the country – abandoned old people; street children; beggars; etc. They should be cared for.
DETAILED DOCUMENT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The Constitution of Nigeria is the supreme law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. … The current constitution was enacted on 29 May 1999, inaugurating the Nigerian Fourth Republic.
We have had the following constitutions since independence in 1960:
1963 constitution (First Republic)
Independent Nigeria’s second constitution established the country as a federal republic. It came into force on 1st of October,1963 (Nigeria’s third anniversary as an independent nation). The 1963 constitution, which was based on the Westminster system, continued in operation until a military coup in 1966 overthrew Nigeria’s democratic institutions.
1979 constitution (Second Republic)
The 1979 constitution, which brought in the Second Republic, abandoned the Westminster system in favour of an American-style presidential system, with a direct election, directly-elected. To avoid the pitfalls of the First Republic, the constitution mandated that political parties and Federal Executive Council (Nigeria cabinet) positions reflect the “federal character” of the nation: political parties were required to be registered in at least two-thirds of the States of Nigeria or states, and each state had to have at least one member of the cabinet from it.
1993 constitution (Third Republic)[
The 1993 constitution was intended to see the return of democratic rule to Nigeria with the establishment of a Third Republic, but was never fully implemented, and the military resumed power until 1999
1999 presidential constitution (Fourth Republic)[
The 1999 constitution restored democratic rule to Nigeria, and remains in force today. In January 2011, two amendments of the 1999 constitution were signed by President Olusegun Obasanjo, the first modifications since the document came into use in 1999.
It must be noted here that aside the 1963 constitution, all the other three constitutions – 1979, 1993 and 1999 – were all influenced by the military junta in power after the 1966 coup hence can not be said to be constitutions fashioned by and for the people.
It is therefore our view that the citation –
We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Having firmly and solemnly resolve, to live in unity and harmony as one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign nation under God, dedicated to the promotion of inter-African solidarity, world peace, international co-operation and understanding And to provide for a Constitution for the purpose of promoting the good government and welfare of all persons in our country, on the principles of freedom, equality and justice, and for the purpose of consolidating the unity of our people Do hereby make, enact and give to ourselves the following Constitution:-
– is false to the extent that the 1999 Constitution was not a document endorsed by Nigerians generally but by a small section of Nigerians whose selfish interests are protected and engendered by the 1999 Constitution.
• e To the extent therefore that the 1999 Constitution was foisted on Nigerians by a military government which did not represent the generality of Nigerians, we say and state unequivocally right here that:
1. A Sovereign National Conference with equal representation from all the 6 geopolitical zones namely: Southsouth, Southwest, Southeast, North Central, Northeast and Northeast. be convocated to fashion out a constitution that would take into consideration the yearnings of majority of Nigerians for a true federal constitution similar to the 1963 Constitution.
2. The first step towards the 1999 Constitutional review, if the option of a Sovereign National Conference is not accepted should have been an immediate adoption by the National Assembly of the report of the Constitution Conference of the President Jonathan’s Administration which Conference had a fair representation of Nigeria.
Be that as it may, the very basic aspects of the 1999 Constitution which as aforementioned was military crafted, inspired and influenced to engender the interest of a section of Nigeria led by a military junta that we need to address for review in this paper include:
1. The Federal Structure and Power Devolution
2. Public Revenue, Fiscal Federation and Revenue Allocation
3. Sharia Law.
4. State Creation
5. Electoral Reforms
6. The National Assembly
THE FEDERAL STRUCTURE AND POWER DEVOLUTION
It is inconceivable for any right thinking Nigerian to regard the federal structure and devolution of power in the 1999 constitution as being in any way or form federal in nature and practice.
Chapter 1 Part 11 of the 1999 Constitution on the powers of Federal Republic of Nigeria must therefore be reviewed to devolve much powers from the Centre to the Federating units as was the case with the 1963 Constitution where the existing four regions were more or less autonomous and were not directly responsible to the whims and caprices of the Prime Minister.
Such was the situation with the 1963 Constitution that Sir Ahmadu Bello who was the leader of NPC sent his deputy, Sir Abubakar T. Balewa, to Lagos as Prime Minster while he remained in Kaduna as Premier of Northern Nigeria where he felt he would have more impact on his people.
The powers of the Government at the Centre in the 1999 Constitution especially with respect to resource control and revenue generation must therefore be reduced substantially
The states must be allowed to have their constitutions, coat of arms, motto etc. as it was in the 1963 Constitution and as obtained in other countries running a federal constitution like the USA.
Every state should be allowed to have its own courts up to state appeal courts from where appeals go the federal supreme court as it was in the first republic and in the USA
Every state must also be allowed to determine the number of its local governments
It is worthy of note that what we have as local governments now are the creation of the Military. Attempts by the Tinubu led Lagos State Government to create a semblance of local governments in view of its population vis a vis Kano State was thwarted by the Obasanjo led Federal Government.
PUBLIC REVENUE, FISCAL FEDERATION AND REVENUE ALLOCATION
We strongly recommend a thorough review of Chapter VI C – Public Revenue to reflect the following:
1. Section 162 (1) should be amended to reflect that the Federation Account shall be money collected by the Federal Government such as company income tax, customs and excise duties, royalties etc.
2. The relevant portions of the Constitution should be amended such that states have absolute control of resources in their states as it was in the 1963 Constitution
3. Section 162 (10) should therefore be amended to reflect that revenue for the Federal Government shall not include revenue from mineral resources, water resources etc. in the states
4. Sales tax should be for the states
CONTROL OF MINERAL RESOURCES
We are also of the view that Schedule 11 Part 1 Exclusive Legislative List Section 39. Mines and minerals, including oil fields, oil mining, geological surveys and natural gas should be amended to allow states control of these resources which are within
their territories.
It is grave injustice that revenue from these resources on which the Federal and
state Governments now depend are not available for the development of host communities such that they are denied of basic things like water, electricity, roads etc.
NIGERIA POLICE FORCE
Chapter VI Part 111 B on Nigeria Police Force must be amended to decentralize the police force such that:
1. There should not be a police force controlled by the Federal Government with jurisdiction over the states
2. Each state should have its own police force. In a true federalism like the USA, cities have police forces which do not even report to the state governor but the mayors
THE JUDICATURE
Chapter VII Part B should be seriously amended such that states should have control over appeal courts from where appeals should go to the Federal Supreme Court as it was in the first republic and in the USA
All of Chapter VII Part 1 E- The Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; F. The Customary Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital ; Part 11 B. Sharia Court of Appeal of a State and Part 11 C. Customary Court of Appeal of a State should be expunged from the Constitution and left for the legislature of each state that so desires to have sharia and customary courts
It is not good jurisprudence to have two or more competing legal systems in a constitution
Chapter I Part II Section 10 of the 1999 Constitution states clearly that The Government of the Federation or of a State shall not adopt any religion as State Religion. By this is meant that Nigeria is a secular nation hence it is absurd that there are sharia provisions in the 1999 Constitution which are purely Islamic in nature.
This is why we are recommending that the provisions on customary courts be also expunged since the Muslims argue that their sharia law is similar to customary law
Since there is nothing in the 1999 Constitution about Christian or Ecclesiastical courts, It is our strong recommendation that any reference to Sharia in the Constitution must be expunged and removed.
Any State that is interested in Sharia and Christian or Ecclesiastical laws can domesticate such to their states through their state legislatures.
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Chapter V Part 1 of the 1999 Constitution should be reviewed such that the National Assembly shall be:
1. Unicameral – only one chamber as we have in the states
2. Representation should be equal per state
3. The emoluments of National Assembly members must not be more than that of University professors.
ELECTORAL REFORMS
1. We believe that the electoral laws be amended, and efforts be urgently put in place such that there has to be electronic voting by the next general elections
2. We strongly believe that Chapter VI Part II D should be amended such that there should not be more than three political parties
STATE CREATION AND NUMBER OF STATES
Section 3(1) of Chapter I Part I of the 1999 Constitution provides – 3. (1) There shall be 36 states in Nigeria, …
Incidentally, there are 19 States in the North of Nigeria – 20 if FCT which more or less a state is added – whereas there are 17 in the South compared to what we had in the first republic when there was 1 region in the North and 3 regions in the south.
This situation is not acceptable especially now that all the states look up to the federation revenue as defined in Chapter VI C.
It is our position therefore that each of the geographical zones – Northwest, Northcentral, Northeast, Southwest, Southeast and Southsouth should have equal number of states – 6 each.
Prof Charles Adeyinka Adisa
National President, Nigeria Christian Graduate Fellowship
Mr Philip Onyenachi Nwaegeruo
General Secretary, Nigeria Christian Graduate Fellowship.