Guardian

SO, it is clear that when the 1999 Constitution, which was promulgated, given force of law, and decreed by the Federal Military government declaims: “We, the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria… Do hereby make, enact and give to ourselves the following Constitution”, it tells a blatant lie about its origin and the source of its authority. It is this perjuring, double-speak of a constitution that the President and members of the National Assembly have promised, by some abracadabra or alchemy, to turn into a people’s constitution – a constitution made by, and deriving its authority from, the people.

The touted sovereignty of the National Assembly is buoyed up by the general perception that the cardinal essence of sovereignty is the power to make laws. But it cannot claim to be sovereign when the Constitution invested it with only the “legislative powers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” (S.4(1)) which in crucial cases it shares with the legislative Houses of the states, “subject to the jurisdiction of courts of law and of judicial tribunals established by law” (S.4(8). In any case, it cannot stand up to Black’s Law Dictionary’s definition of a sovereign: “(1). A person, body or state vested with independent and supreme authority. (2). The ruler of an independent state”.  What the National Assembly has is no more than sovereign power within its narrow constitutional ambit.

The Constitution itself has settled the question of sovereignty and consequentially signed its own death-warrant:

“14. (1) The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a state based on the principles of democracy and social justice.

(2) It is hereby, accordingly, declared that –

(a) Sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution derives all its powers and authority.”

Since Nigeria is declared to be a state based on the principles of democracy, it is most incongruous for her to be governed under a patently autocratic and undemocratic constitution. There is, therefore, the need for the people of Nigeria, the “demos”, to whom sovereignty belongs and from whom government derives all its powers and authority, in exercise of their undoubted sovereignty, to shove aside the autocratic 1999 Constitution and replace it with a constitution bearing their imprimatur.

But there are practical reasons why the National Assembly is not fit to make the next constitution. Some of the issues at stake are bigger than the National Assembly while others concern reformation of the Legislature, which the National Assembly cannot be trusted to handle dispassionately if a cue is taken from the list of 16 items in respect of which the Senate invited memoranda from the public that included “Judiciary” and “Executive” but conveniently omitted “Legislature.”

Issues too big for the National Assembly include return to regional system of government; reduction of the number of states; adoption of the Six Geo-political Zones; reduction of the size and powers of the federal government; fiscal federalism; and return to parliamentary system of government. These issues require to be canvassed at a national conference and thereafter, be submitted to a referendum of the whole people of Nigeria – something which the National Assembly lacks power to do since the Constitution provides for referendum only on questions of creation of more states (S.8(1)(b) and local governments (S.8(3)(b). Issues the National Assembly cannot be trusted to handle include change from bi-cameral to uni-cameral Legislature; part-time legislative service; independent candidature; stringent control of the emoluments of legislators; and reduction of the membership of the legislative Houses.

• Anaekwe is an Abuja-based legal practitioner.