Why Cant The Nigerian Constitution Be Amended

AN EXAMINATION OF THE MERITS

OF THE CONTROVERSY CONCERNING THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ON THE REVIEW OF THE 1999 CONSTITUTION BY EGHWERE SHADRACH-OSIAJE (MRS)

[email protected] 08065966278

INTRODUCTION The Constitution of The Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (herein after referred to as ‘the 1999 Constitution’)was given to Nigerians by the military government of General Abdusalami Abubakar through Decree 24 of 1999 in the same manner in which preceding administrations had given Nigerians the 1979,1989 and 1994 Constitutions. These Constitutions like others were handed down to the people of Nigeria either by the elites or the soldiers and as such no Constitution in Nigeria has actually been a reflection of the true wishes and aspirations of the people. The opening phrase “We the People” of the Preamble to the Constitution is a lie. It is therefore not unexpected that there is a call for the review of the 1999 Constitution. AN APPRAISAL OF PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS TO REVIEW THE 1999 CONSTITUTION. In 1999, the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration set up a committee to review the 1999 Constitution. That committee spent two years studying the constitution and collecting memoranda. When her report was ready, it traveled round the six geo-political zones to present the so called Volumes one and two. Nothing came out of that exercise. In 2001 and 2005, there were several other attempts to review the Constitution to no avail as the 2005 attempt was brought to a dead end by the proposed third term agenda. The question that naturally agitates our mind therefore is: what is responsible for the ever failure of all the attempts to review the 1999 Constitution? One obvious reason and which was well noted by Reuben Abati, “The Constitution and a Divided National Assembly” is the fact that, the issues requiring amendment are so many - over 117 as at the last count. All of which project the need to cleanse the 1999 Constitution of its contradictions and come up with a new Constitution that promotes justice, equity and true federalism or far reaching amendments that will transform the country’s basic law.

Addressing the issues raised above, The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (herein after referred to as CNPP) on 25th January 2009 has this to say: “The first of what we need is pertinent when we recall that the United States of America we want to emulate in our democracy in the 222 years of her Constitution never amended two constitutional issues at a time in over 20 amendments.” This is very instructive when we realize the fact that it is better to record success in one exercise, than to record failure in all which has been the situation with those attempts to amend the 1999 Constitution. THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW In 2007 when the President Umaru Musa Yar ‘Adua administration came into power, there was also another attempt to review the 1999 Constitution by inaugurating an 88 member joint committee on constitutional review drawn from the Senate and House of Representatives. There is however a departure from the problems that rocked the previous attempt to review the 1999 Constitution. The bone of contention this time around is a superiority tussle over chairmanship of the JCCR. From the year 2000 when the first attempt to review the 1999 Constitution began in the National Assembly, the tradition has always been for the Deputy Senate President (DSP) to Chair the JCCR while the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives would be the Vice Chairman. That arrangement is rooted in the order of protocol in Section 53 of the 1999 Constitution which spells out precedents in any sitting or joint sitting of the National Assembly. For the avoidance of doubts, the Section states as follows: Section 53(2) “At any joint sitting of the Senate and House of Representatives (a) the President of Senate shall preside, and in his absence, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall preside: and (b) in the absence of the persons mentioned in Paragraph (a) of this Subsection, the Deputy President of the Senate shall preside, and in

his absence the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives shall preside”. While the Senator Ike Ekweremadu led JCCR of the National Assembly was seen to have played by that tradition, for the House of Representatives, this theory of tradition does not hold water because this is a constitutional matter in which all parties must abide by the Law and not by established practice and therefore demand that the Deputy Speaker be designated as “Co-Chairman” of the JCCR and not by any other designation such as ‘deputy chairman’, ‘vice chairman’ or any other suggested name. The question for consideration however, is the merit of the argument of the Honourable members of the House of Representatives. It is my candid opinion, that Section 53 of the 1999 Constitution quoted supra supports the superiority of the Senate over the House of Representatives. The argument for co-chairmanship by the House of Representatives lacks merit and is not sustainable either in Law, practice or established tradition. It was canvassed in a television broadcast by the African Independent Television (AIT) on Monday, 26th of January, 2009 at 5pm on behalf of the Honourable members of the House of Representatives that Section 53 of the 1999 Constitution only applies to a joint sitting of both Houses and not to a joint committee of both Houses. One is compelled to wonder at this point whether it is not in their capacity as Law makers that Legislators do meet whether at a joint sitting or in a joint committee. It is a regrettable error that Section 62 of the 1999 Constitution that provides for setting up of joint committees does not provide for who presides over such committees. However, common sense dictates to us that the one who presides over a meeting is the Chairman. It is not in dispute that Nigeria operates a Bi-Cameral Legislature and that both Chambers are independent of each other. However, this should not be allowed to becloud our sense of judgment as guided by Section 53 of the 1999 Constitution. It is also worthy of mention here that there is a Bill for an Act to establish a National Order of Precedence of Public Officers and other persons in the Federal Republic of Nigeria sponsored by Senator Teslim K. Folarin before the Senate. If that Bill is passed, Section 1 of

the Schedule of that Bill also recognizes the superiority of the Senate over the House of Representatives. All these, point to the fact that, the agitation of the members of the House of Representatives is not sustainable. CONCLUSION It is obvious that this controversy over the chairmanship of the JCCR is borne out of lack of focus or other factors beyond what the ordinary eyes can see. It is interesting to note that Section 62 of the 1999 Constitution that makes provision for appointment of a joint committee did not make it mandatory to have a joint committee for constitution review. Therefore, it may probably save some troubles to have separate Committees. Am constrained to align my humble self with Prof Ben Osisioma “LEADERSHIP AND THE FATE OF THE NATIONS: NIGERIA AS A PARADIGM”, when he said: “the Nigerian politician is largely ignorant of the Constitution and the Laws of the land which should govern his conduct. Where he is aware of the laws, he does not hold himself bound to follow them. At the earliest opportunity, he will circumvent these regulations and exploit them to his personal advantage and he is generally very impatient with due process and the Law”. The Distinguished Senators and their counterpart in the House of Representatives should proffer an amicable way to settle this controversy. It is my suggestion that they should allow the amendment to the Constitution to go on and amend the relevant provisions of the Constitution so as to lay to rest the issue of equality or superiority of one House over the other. REFERENCES 1) The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999. 2) Rueben Abati, (January 23, 2009) “The Constitution and A Failed National Assembly”. www.saharareporters.com

3) Joint Committee on Constitution Review Standoff (January 25, 2009) “Conference of Nigeria Political Parties”. www.nigeriavillagesquare.com 4) Senator Teslim K. Folarin, (2008) “A Bill For An Act To Establish A National Order Of Precedence Of Public Officers And Other Persons In The Federal Republic Of Nigeria” – SB137. 5) Osisioma B.C. (2008) “Leadership and the Fate of The Nation: Nigeria as a Paradigm”, being Paper presented at the Annual Conference of Christian Lawyers’ Fellowship of Nigeria, Enugu, August 8, 2008.