Proposed second amendment to the constitution: A cocktail of illegalities

Also, I advised members of the State Houses of Assembly, particularly Lagos’, that they should not lend their weight to the illegality fabricated in the chambers of the National Assembly. It would appear that advice was ignored. That is regrettable, to say the least.  But I will not relent. I also made a promise to […]

Also, I advised members of the State Houses of Assembly, particularly Lagos’, that they should not lend their weight to the illegality fabricated in the chambers of the National Assembly. It would appear that advice was ignored. That is regrettable, to say the least.  But I will not relent.

I also made a promise to challenge the infamy in court. I have done so and the case is at the Court of Appeal. As a matter of fact, my brief of argument is ready and I intend to ask the Court of Appeal also to refer the matter to the Supreme Court in the next few days since the Attorney General is unwilling to take the matter to the Supreme Court for whatever reason.

Institutional deafness or Legislative Arrogance?

The National Assembly has made up its mind that it would treat the existing constitution as a mere piece of paper that can be thrashed at its whims and caprices. It is amazing that members of the ruling class whose interest lies in the stability of the present constitutional order, watch or acquiesce in the desecration of its basic document. From the look of things, the politicians in the National Assembly think that they can wake up and pass any kind of legislation and amend the Constitution at anytime and anyhow. If we do not check them, they may even amend with mere pencil and without recourse to the State Houses of Assembly, make no mistake about that! Should we allow that? Certainly, not. And the reason we would not allow them to amend the Constitution whimsically is so they won’t wake one day and obliterate the whole of Chapter 4 which protects some of the fundamental rights which the Nigerian working people fought for and won. Otherwise, we should encourage them to rubbish themselves and the constitution as that weakens them further.

I have no doubt that we are dealing with a serious case of institutional deafness admixed with inscrutable arrogance on the part of members of the National Assembly. What I am yet to fathom is the ease with which the state Houses of Assembly conspire with the infamy and in the process, taint themselves with the same tar of illegality. Is theirs a case of docility? Or are they genuinely confused? Are they compromised? Do they really imagine that they are junior partners in the democratic enterprise? Whatever may be the case, I would still advise them not to touch the so called second amendment with a long pole. The National Assembly people are merely compounding their routine acts of illegality. But the State legislatures have a choice to go down with the National Assembly, and down it will go. This is not a wish or a curse. That is the inexorable lesson of history. When a body gleefully fouls its source and treats it with contempt, in this case the constitution, it is bound to collapse. I will explain shortly.

Second Amendment Violates the Rule of Law

Let us leave all our theoretical postulations and predilections aside for a moment. The legal reality on the ground is that there is an order of a court of undoubted competent jurisdiction that the first amendment is unconstitutional and inchoate not having received presidential assent. That is the case of Agbakoba Vs National Assembly decided by Honourable Justice Okeke of the Federal High Court. Should a serious Assembly of democrats give an impression that the decision is of no import as the National Assembly is doing by pressing on with a second amendment to the constitution? Of course, we know that our democracy is one largely without democrats, but cannot these fellows pretend for once? The second amendment is in sabotage of the principles of the rule of law. The states have a moral and legal duty to reject it wholesomely.

Even if they were right on procedure, and they are brutally wrong, they cannot ignore a court decision. Prudence dictates that they should exhaust the judicial process before embarking on another fruitless voyage that leads nowhere really. If the National Assembly continues this way, the liberal democratic experiment cannot endure and if it does not, they would have themselves to blame.

Let us make the point that this is not about the sovereignty of the people as has been suggested. The state Houses of Assembly do not constitute the people. So their votes on the amendment cannot be equated with a referendum. The point is that as the laws stand today, presidential assent is required. It is desirable to have a referendum inserted in the constitution for the ratification of constitutional amendments. Indeed, I am all for that. I have campaigned for that. But I would not have the state legislatures substituted for the people and their votes in a matter as weighty as the constitution. That is the other side of the same present coin of presidential assent. It would of course be specious to argue that they approximate more the people than the President. Anything that detracts from full sovereignty of the people demeans it. Period.  Let us remake our constitution by making the people sovereign as section 14 demands and not substitute the state legislatures for the people.

In the same vein, there is no need to travel to America or any other place for the construction of section 9(2). Such a journey is uncalled for. Section 9(2) is clear and unambiguous and is not the same with the American provision on the same subject. The two provisions are similarly worded. I have read them. In other words, American cases are irrelevant to the construction of section 9(2) of the Nigerian constitution.

Conclusion

I urge the State Houses of Assembly to reject the proposed second amendment to the constitution on the ground that it is an affront to the rule of law and the principles of even liberal democracy. I rest my case, even as I doubt if a word is enough for the Abuja politicians. May God bless and save Nigeria.

Bamidele Aturu & Co., 24, Mbonu Ojike Street, off Ayinde Giwa Street, Off Alhaji Masha Road, Surulere, Lagos State. Nigeria.