‘Why Northern delegates oppose new constitution, referendum’

Sani, who is the spokesperson of Northern Delegates Forum (NDF) said, the current constitution doesn’t have provision to replace itself with a new one.   “When one reads reports that the confab is being lobbied to accept the idea of a new constitution from deliberations of the confab, and that the lobby is at the instance […]

Sani, who is the spokesperson of Northern Delegates Forum (NDF) said, the current constitution doesn’t have provision to replace itself with a new one.   
“When one reads reports that the confab is being lobbied to accept the idea of a new constitution from deliberations of the confab, and that the lobby is at the instance of the presidency, it is baffling.
“Stunning in the sense that Mr President in his inaugural speech accepted that the current constitution does not have provision to replace itself with a new one,” he said.
The president then said the starting point would be to amend the current constitution to accommodate a referendum, the spokesperson said.
“But the amendment of the constitution is not within the purview of the confab but that of the National and State assemblies.
“So we do not see the wisdom of lobbying the northern delegates. The most appropriate place to go and do the lobby is the National and State Assemblies,” he said.
The Northern delegates said as to the import of the conference making a new constitution, “we wish to say that the current constitution is being challenged not on lack of its soundness but because the military and the elected constituent assemblies who brought it about are said not to represent the people of Nigeria.
“Where that has been the premise for the clamoring for a new one, it would be contradicting for selected delegates by the presidency to bring about the new constitution.”
On referendum, the delegates said this idea of a referendum is not appealing because the level of education of most Nigerians has not reached where most Nigerians can make informed decisions on constitutional matters.
“Any constitution by the so-called referendum would still be by the elite for the elite, and that would be most unfair. But if the legislatures will amend the constitution to accommodate a referendum, we cannot prevent them in a democracy,” they said.
On local government councils’ status, they said “those who advocate for the scrapping of the 774 local governments ignore the important fact that the local governments are the closest to majority of the people who see our democracy through what they see in the local governments.
“And that may explain the outcry against the manner state governors stymie their autonomy and effective administration, and that is why there is opposition to making the creation of local governments exclusive preserve of state government, and that is why there is opposition to stopping federal allocations to local governments.”
They said “most Nigerians prefer more autonomy for local governments to enable them deliver on the promise of democratic dividend.
“And that is why sections 7 and 8 of the constitution promote the idea of the whole country being involved in creation of local government as condition to merit allocations from federation account and basis of distribution of patronages, including delegates to party conventions.”