Mark: Why Constitution Review Failed Under Obasanjo

Senate President David Mark yesterday shed more light on why the constitutional review under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo failed.
Mark gave two reasons for its failure - the acrimony engendered by the tenure elongation agenda and the basket of 120 amendments proposed by the defunct Constitution Review Committee headed by former Deputy Senate President Ibrahim Mantu.
Speaking at the inauguration of the 88-member National Assembly Joint Committee on Constitution Review (JCCR) under the chairmanship of the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, Mark said: “During the life of the 4th National Assembly (1999-2003), a Joint Committee for Constitutional Review was similarly inaugurated. Its work was, however, inconclusive, as its tenure lapsed with the end of that Assembly in June 2003.
“This situation led to the reconstitution of the Committee in October 2003. The reconstituted JCCR made wide consultations across the nation, received memoranda and input from stakeholders and eventually submitted its report on the review of the 1999 Constitution to the National Assembly.”
He continued: “Distinguished colleagues, we all know very well the fate that befell that report. Put widely, it was rejected. The last effort at constitution review failed because of the acrimony engendered principally by the proposal for tenure elongation, otherwise known as ‘third term.’ It also failed because that report proposed, in one fell swoop, a basket of 120 amendments.”
He said the National Assembly must get the process right this time around, advising members to draw from experience and “avoid pitfalls that torpedoed the last effort.”
He, however, cautioned against what he described as a wholesale review of the constitution, saying, “As members of this JCCR move to the serene ambience of their retreat to begin deliberations on this solemn assignment, my advice is that you jettison any illusion that a constitution can be amended or reviewed holistically, or wholesale.
“This is even more so in a heterogeneous and complex society such as ours, where a vociferous interplay of factors most times makes the forging of a national consensus on many issues very difficult.
“While not seeking to pre-empt your deliberations, I recommend that priority be accorded to the most urgent and compelling areas that beg for review. These, in my view, include, but not restricted to the following: revenue allocation, federalism, the immunity clause, state creation, the electoral system and elections, separation of power, and, the system of local government administration, including funding, creation and autonomy.
“I therefore suggest that you prioritise the issues, determine the most thorny and germane and tackle them in their order of urgency, taking the least controversial issues first.”
He also noted that the effort at constitution review was not made easier by the fact that the nation’s constitution “is a rigid, not flexible constitution, in the sense that its provision cannot be altered by ordinary forms of legislation, but only by special amending procedures.
“That being the case, I urge you to consult widely and engage a cross section of critical stakeholders, including state governments, the academia, organised private sector, Nigerians in Diaspora, and even the man on the street,” he said.
Mark told the JCCR to strive to forge, as much as possible, consensus on the most critical issues, adding that, “This consensus should then be the basis of the report which you would submit to this assembly for consideration.”
Speaking in his welcome address on the occasion, Speaker of the House of Representatives Dimeji Bankole said the committee’s inauguration marked another milestone in the effort to reposition Nigeria on the path of stability, equity, justice and sustainable political progress.
Bankole said: “This occasion marks yet again the formal inauguration of the JCCR. The responsibility for the review of the constitution is granted in Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution to the National Assembly as elected representatives of the people.
“This exercise therefore represents another significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to reposition our dear country on the path of stability, equity, justice and sustainable political progress.”
He congratulated members of the Committee on their appointment and urged them to “rise to the high expectations and justify the confidence reposed in them.”