Christian Elders under the auspices of National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) have disagreed over the modalities to be adopted in birthing a new Constitution as engagement continues on the amendment of constitution by the National Assembly.
The Christian elders made their views known during a consultative meeting held Thursday via zoom, which was convened by NCEF on the new constitution.
The meeting was convened to understand the different perspectives in the proposals for a new constitution before the NCEF with the ethnic nationalities.
In his submission, the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self Determination (NINAS), Mr. Tony Nnadi was of the opinion that amending the constitution would not berth equity and stability without suspending certain provisions stipulated by successive military regimes to foist a unitary constitution.
He emphasised that nothing short of a brand new corruption produced by indigenous nationalities could set the country right.
Nnadi cited Section 14 sub 2 of the Constitution, adding that what the current National Assembly wants to do is not different from the past attempts at tinkering with the country’s grundnorm.
However, the traditional Ruler of Daffo in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State, Jonathan Akuns regretted that the Nigerian governing eras of 1966 to 1999 missed or messed with the opportunity to have called for the needed amendment of the 1963 constitution in order to restore the democratic foundations of the federal structure.
He argued that the 1963 Republican Constitution was not abrogated, saying all the House of Representatives needed to do was to amend it to preserve Nigeria’s democratic and structural foundation.
Akuns maintained that the best route for the constitution review process in the present circumstances is to tinker with the 1963 republican constitution, stressing that that is the best bet to preserve the democratic demands of constitution making.
He said: “Ethnic cohorts held a constitutional conference in Lagos on 25-26 July 1963 and mandated elected Members of the House of Representatives to enact the Republican Constitution with effect from January 10,1963.
“The enthroned autochthonous 1963 CFRN was never abrogated by military juntas, but simply suspended. Therefore, we need to carefully stitch the democratic strands of Nigeria by reviewing the autochthonous 1963 CFRN.”
“As a result, the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) suffered a prolonged period of an interregnum that stifled and stunted the maturity of the tenets of republican governance in Nigeria. India is a global classic of republicanism in the nationhood strides of countries that also emerged by colonial creation.”
Also, Elder Ayokunle Fagbemi, remarked that as the House of Representatives get ready to review the Constitution, it was necessary to build scenarios, noting that while the best case scenario is to birth a new constitution, the worse case scenario is that the legislature would not succeed in amending or getting a new constitution.
He commended NCEF for convening, saying it would help to guide the Forum on the way forward as it prepares to engage with ethnic nationalities.