Mohammed Ndarani, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has urged the National Assembly to draft a new constitution instead of merely tinkering with the 1999 constitution, which was established during the military regime.
Mr Ndarani discussed the need for a new constitution drafted by the National Assembly while speaking to journalists after submitting a memorandum on the review of the 1999 Constitution to the House of Representatives in Abuja,
He encouraged the House of Assembly to exercise its constitutional power to create a constitution that truly represents the people of Nigeria.
“Developments in this country today justify the complete overhaul and comprehensive amendment to our 1999 constitution, which was only made as an annexure to a military decree.
“We have attempted to beat it into shape and modify it through a myriad of amendments, but these efforts have still left much to be desired as they have not yielded the desired dividends.”
The SAN said they submitted the memorandum as an affirmation of their absolute faith and confidence in the National Assembly.
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“We believe that they will, without bias, collate and harmonise our views and other public views in this regard to produce a formidable document that will effectively and truly reflect the historical, cultural, and traditional values of all Nigerians.”
He said that in their submission, they proposed a constitutional amendment that would reintroduce the parliamentary form of government.
“We contend that the present presidential form of government has outlived its usefulness.
“Western liberal democracy has not worked for Africa and the historical and traditional antecedents in Nigeria favour parliamentary governance.”
He disclosed that they also proposed the adoption of the six geopolitical zones to act in the capacity of regional governments.
He said they also recommended the independence and autonomy of the local government in tandem with the proposed parliamentary system of government.
“We support and recommend the formation of state police in all the states of the federation, which we consider long overdue.
“We recommended a comprehensive and all-encompassing reform of the judiciary to make it capable of standing and performing optimally under the Parliamentary system of governance’’.
