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A senior lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), has said that the present Nigeria’s constitution, no matter the amendments, cannot take the country forward.
According to him, the 1999 Constitution is a bad document and as such it cannot be amended.
Ozekhome explained that the 1999 constitution operates a unitary system of government, not a federal system of government.
The legal expert stated this on Monday while fielding questions on Arise Television’s Morning Show programme.
He said: “The issue is not about amending the Constitution. I have said it again and again that you cannot amend a bad document. A bad, illegitimate document that never proceeded from the people through a popular plebiscite or referendum can never be the product of the people.
“We are still talking about constitutional amendment when we should be talking about introducing a brand new constitution that reflects our diversity as a nation, reflects our multi religious, linguistic inclination.
“What we need is a total beginning, a fresh beginning, like from a tabula rasa, like Naaman the leper, that dipped himself in River Jordan seven times and became cleansed of his leprosy. That is what we need to do. The present constitution, apart from its original sin, what we call the original sin, like that of Adam, of being a product of a military dictatorship through the promulgation of decree number 24 of 1999.
“The present constitution, no matter the amendments, cannot take us forward because one, it operates a unitary system of government, not a federal system of government.
Two, it dispossesses the people of their economic, social, political and cultural rights. Three, it is too heavy on the side of wastages and leakages.”
1999 constitution bad document, can’t take Nigeria forward – Ozekhome
