Constitutional Reform As APliable Road To Peace AndProgress In Nigeria Preamble By Dr. Adeleke Otunuga

By Dr. Adeleke Otunuga
The shameful and arrogant brigandage in Rivers State we all saw on
video would easily have been passed for another unfortunate brouhaha
by some uncouth dishonorable men who should not be involved in the
business of lawmaking in a civilized society like ours. Not that we
would have overlooked their reprehensible actions.
The tacitly copious involvement of the Presidency and the First Lady
givethe crisis a different bloom. The reality of a too-powerful
emperor-like Presidency stares us in the face once again. And can no
longer be ignored. Like our iconic Professor Wole Soyinka said in
relation to same event and the involvement of the First Lady, "too
much is already too much"! If we must defend our democracy and reclaim
power from the hands of those who hold it hostage, there is urgent
need to reform the laws of a land that makes one man the most powerful
in the world, constitutionally speaking that is.
I am one of those who attest to the need for the convocation of a
Sovereign National Conference whererepresentatives of peoples of
Nigeria will come as equals on the table of brotherhood and reason.
Considering the often-quick rejection of the very idea of such august
gathering by the political elites, obviously in fear of the erosion of
their ill-gained political capital, it becomes part of our reality
that the convocation of an SNC may be a deadbeat project, at least for
the immediate time. But the National Assembly has the powers to review
and recommend replacement laws for our polity. It is to them we must
urgently appeal.
The Problem
It is common knowledge that there is a dangerous lopsidedness in the
way power is constitutionally shared across the three tiers of
governments in Nigeria. With regards to power sharing and governmental
relationships between the Federal Government and the federating states
especially, too much is concentrated at the center, paving the way for
a Nero-like President whosolely decides which way the power pendulum
swings. He easily manipulates himself away from the pinhole of
oversight by the National Assembly. He controls both the instruments
of Force and the treasury of the land. Not in the hands of any one
else has the carrot and the stick been so well amenable.
The 1999 Constitution is a democratic instrument with a military
detail. The reference to state governors in Nigeria as Chief Security
Officers of their states is a mere praise-song thatlatches on to
aspirations of how things should be. In reality, a state governor in
Nigeria is a victim of power siege by the center. Amongst all his
commissioners, the Commissioner of Police is loyal to andtakes orders
from no one but the Inspector-General of Police and, by extension, the
President. This is why shameful situations like the arrogant
deployment of federal might against a sitting governor in a federal
arrangement will be completely inveterate in our body polity. It did
not start with Rivers; we witnessed it in Anambra State on July 10,
2003 when a sitting governor in the personof Chris Nwabueze Ngige was
brazenly abducted by forces loyal to then president Obasanjo. Tough
times indeed call for tougher measures, and our representatives at the
federal level must brazen up for the challenge at hand.
In his article, "Rivers State Crisis: Issues, Sense, and Nonsense,"
Comrade Bamidele Aturu bemoaned the fate of our "endangered
federalism." He touted the establishment of state police forces as a
solution to the incessant power-show between the federal and state
government bodies, but was quick to aver that we must "first deal with
the feudal culture that is ingrained in the consciousness of our
politicians. Unless we uproot one way or the other in this culture
nothing stops theState Governors from also using State Police to
intimidate the minority within the State." So how exactly do we
reorient the mindset of the political class? I strongly support a
structural repair of the constitution such that the system is afforded
opportunities for automatic checks and balances whenever necessary.
Cracks in our constitutional walls
Comrade Aturu dealt extensively withthe visible problems created by
Section 215 of the 1999 constitution with regards to the duties of the
StateCommissioners of Police vis-à-vis their relationships with the
governors of the states where they serve. Section 215 (1) (a) of the
1999 Constitution allows for the appointment of an Inspector-General
of Police by the President. Section 215(1) (b) also makes for the
appointment of a Commissioner of Police for each state of the
Federationby the Police Service Commission. Note that the President
appoints the chairman and members of the Police Service Commission by
virtue of Section 154 (1). Section 215 (2) places the command of the
Nigeria Police force, including the Commissioners and other rank and
file members of the Force, under the Inspector-General of police (who
is appointed by, and therefore serves at the behestof, the
President).Section 147 (1) of the 1999 Constitution allows for the
establishment of the Offices of Ministers of the Government. Section
147 (2) stipulates for the appointmentof such Ministers by the
President, subject to confirmation by the Senate.The searchlight at
this time is not per se on how easy it is for the President to assure
the confirmation of any persons he so wishes for public offices. That
the President can, at ownwhims, remove such officers without recourse
to any persons or organs of state makes the holders of such offices
loyal and accountable only to the President, and not the Nigerian
people.
In tandem with Section 147 (1), Section 150 (1) of the 1999
Constitution also gives legal backing to the establishment of the
Office of the Attorney-General, constitutionallydesignated as the
Chief Law Officer of the federation, who also doubles as a Minister of
Government. The President not only appoints the Attorney-General, he
is empowered by virtue of Section 151(1) to appoint Special Advisers
for the Attorney-General. Section 151 (3) expressly stipulates that
all persons appointed under Section 151 of the constitution ARE
serving at the pleasure of the President. Again, the President holds
the constitutional hire and fire power in this case.
It is important to underscore the importance of the unfettered
functions of the Attorney-general in the promotion of the ideals of
Freedom, Equality and Justice as enshrined in Section 17 (1) of the
Constitution. Both Federal and State Attorneys General are the Chief
Law Officers of their respective jurisdictions, and can therefore
institute and undertake criminal proceedings against any person or
institution before the courts of the land. The wheels of justice can
only spin at equitable gyre where the prosecuting and presiding
judicial officers are free from all encumbrances and are truly
independent in the discharge of their duties. The President has untold
capacities to manipulate other public officials both through his
constitutional powers of hire and fire and through his control of
party structures.
Reformed Checks and Balances as solution to abuse of power
The intention of the drafters of the 1999 Constitution seemed clearly
to ensure checks and balances in the polity. The operations of each of
the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government were
supposed to provide respective systemic checks and balances on one
another in the daily discharge of the constitutional duties emanating
from such offices. Owing to the nature and manner of appointments and
other issues mentioned elsewhere in this write-up, it becomes clear
that it is almost impossible for either the legislature or the
judiciary to be truly independent in the discharge of their duties.
There is need to fathom other means of injecting checks and balances
into the process of governance in Nigeria.
Repositioning political parties as a guarantee for effective checks and balances
Per Sections 13-18 it is unarguably obvious that the guarantee for
Freedom, Equality and Justice forms the fulcrum of the constitutional
document. In order to ensure this however, there must be systems in
place, other than the seemingly failedwatchdog relationships between
the three branches of government at all levels. I believe that a
deliberate alteration of the electoral laws, for instance, with
stipulations for how, which and when political parties can field
candidates for what political offices may serve our much desired
yearning for independent functioningof relevant organs of government.
To this end, I postulate as follows:
1. Considering our experiences with power-play since return of
democracy, it becomes clear that certain offices or positions are too
important to be left at the direction ofone person, be it the
President of the country or any of the state governors. Such offices
include:
a) Attorney General of the Federation or States, and
b) Inspector-General of Police.
2. Occupation of the two offices listed in a-b above (we can add to
the list as necessary) should be constitutionally amended to become by
election rather than appointment by either the President (as is the
case of Federal Attorney-General) and Governor (as currently is the
case with State Attorneys-General and Ministers of Justice).
3. There are other positions, though elective in nature, the
independence of which must be systematically guaranteed by taking
their control away from the Executives. These include such legislative
offices as:
c) the offices of the Senate President and the Deputy Senate President, and
d) Speakers and Deputy Speakers of the Federal House of
Representatives and the State House of Assemblies. I strongly believe,
for emphasis, that speaker Tambuwal would have been more effective in
checkmating the shenanigans of Aso Rock if he was not from the PDP
stock.The idea here is basically to ensure that the party that
produces the President at the Federal level is constitutionally
disallowed from fielding candidates for election into the offices
enumerated in a) – d) above. For instance, if the APGA was successful
at the presidential polls, only other qualified parties (excluding
APGA) will be eligible to field candidates for the offices of the
Inspector-General of Police, Attorney-General of the Federation,
Senate andDeputy Senate Presidents, and Speaker and Deputy Speaker of
the Federal House of Representatives. The same condition will apply at
the state level where the party that produces the Governor will
constitutionally become ineligible to field candidates for the offices
of the Attorneys-General and Commissioner of Justice, and the Speakers
and Deputy Speakers of the Houses of Assembly.
To ensure smooth electioneering process, the polls timetable can be
drawn in such a way that ensures adequate time limit for campaigns
into the offices listed in a) – d) above. While the current
one-week-apart timetable of elections into Legislative(Federal and
State), Governorship, and Presidential elections can still be honored,
the positions highlighted above should be removed from electioneering
process within the time other elective positions are held. While the
terms of office may necessarily remain the same as it is for others,
the election period could be altered such that elections into such
offices come at a much later period, say 6 or more months after the
general elections. This not only gives room for the resolution of
litigations that almost always trail elections, it will also allow for
a clearance of doubt as to which party will be eligible to field
candidates for the excluded offices and positions.
It is well understood that the resolution formula expounded in this
document may contain some grey areas that must necessarily be
furtherexpounded. What do you think your own amendment of the document
presented herein, or your own outright solution to the aforementioned
problems would be? By coming together as a people we can develop a
formidable think-tank through which theoretical and practical
solutions to everyday problems in our body polity can be holistically
addressed. You can répondez, s'il vous plait to manlesky@yahoo.com.
Dr. Adeleke Otunuga, a former Students Union leader at the University
of Lagos, is currently the President of the Ijebu Association of the
United States of America (Washington DC Metro area) and a Senator of
the Alliance of Yoruba Organizations & Clubs, USA (Washington DC Metro
area).