Sovereign National Conference: An infantile call

Some advocates of SNC said the constitution lied when the opening paragraph said “WE THE PEOPLE of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” after all, it is a document produced by military junta and not a reflection of the people’s wishes and aspirations. The generality of Nigerians were not duly consulted in the codification of Nigeria’s […]

Some advocates of SNC said the constitution lied when the opening paragraph said “WE THE PEOPLE of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” after all, it is a document produced by military junta and not a reflection of the people’s wishes and aspirations. The generality of Nigerians were not duly consulted in the codification of Nigeria’s constitution, as such it is a ‘Document of Convenience’ and not a reflection of our desire to live as a nation.

At any rate the Constitution of 1999 remains the codified document that all other legislations derive their powers. Nigerian has undergone numerous Constitutional amendment process, this will continue but not through a resolution of SNC, because the 1999 Constitution under Section 9(2) and (3) provides for mode of altering or amending a section of the Constitution. This serves as a more convenient route to effect any change that advocates of SNC may have as a reason for the convocation. And members of the two chambers remain our elected representatives based on Senatorial Districts, Federal or State Constituencies. If you have a matter for amendment, you may prepare a memo seeking for amendment and channel it through your representatives. And ones inability to see his representative can’t be a basis to convene a SNC.

In fact, the Constitution is one document while other legislations enacted by the National Assembly like Land Use Act, Freedom of Information Act etc compliment the operational scope of the Constitution. So a disregard to the Constitution will affect the application of others, including the Chambers that enact them.

Advocates of SNC need to convince Nigerians how they intend to go about the nomination of membership. If the confab is meant to address salient national issues, then each ethnic entity must be represented so that their position can be taken, hence ethnic religious crises is a reason advanced by advocates of SNC. Similarly, who will speak on behalf of Koma people of Adamawa, the Etulo clan from Benue State at the conference? Who will convene the Assembly? Can SNC operate alongside National Assembly? What will be the status of a senator nominated to serve as a representative at SNC that may last for 12 months? How will the convener finance the conference to cater for other Logistics and other miscellaneous activities?

Restructuring the revenue sharing formula is another reason canvassed by advocates of SNC: this I find to be funny because in view of the presence of a window in the Constitution to resolve the perceived lopsidedness. There is an Act of the National Assembly on revenue sharing; there is also Revenue Mobilization and Allocation Act. For those who feel the set up is not enough, they can explore the Constitution amendment section.

I therefore implore advocates of SNC to channel their strength towards curbing corruption and ethnic acrimony in the country, by promoting patriotism in the minds of our citizens so that Nigeria will attain greater height.

Danlami Alh. Wushishi is a Minna-based legal practitioner. He can be reached at [email protected].