Ex-Speakers, others list dangers to democracy


Preach tolerance of opposition

From John-Abba Ogbodo, Terhemba Daka (Abuja) and Lawrence Njoku (Enugu)
OBSTACLES to Nigeria's democratic growth and general socio-economic development were outlined yesterday by some current and former leaders of its National Assembly who warned that failure to earnestly and sincerely tackle them would endanger civil rule and stability.

Specifically, former Presiding Officers of the House of Representatives tasked the Chamber on the need to reform the country's electoral process in the interest of the electorate, warning that the gains of democracy realised so far would collapse if the ongoing attempt failed.

The former Speakers, Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, Alhaji Ghali Umar Na'Abba, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari, Chief Agunwa Anekwe and Salisu Buhari, who spoke at the celebration of 10 years of sustained democracy in Nigeria by the House of Representatives at the National Assembly Complex, however, admitted that there were many things to celebrate about the 10 years of return of democracy.

In Enugu, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu said the country has not utilised the opportunity to amend the contentious 1999 Constitution following what he identified as its stringent nature and lack of procedures to be adopted in amending it.

The former Speakers noted, at the special session held to celebrate the occasion, that there was also a need for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to tolerate the opposition who, they pointed out, constituted a necessary tool for good governance.

The first to speak was Chief Ume-Ezeoke, the current National Chairman of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) who was Speaker of the House of Representatives between 1979 and 1983. He lauded the present House which, he said, had done a tremendous job and urged members to ensure that the electoral process in the country was reformed to meet international standards.

The former Speaker said the House had done well in the area of oversight function and expressed delight that he had started experiencing positive changes in the country, a situation he had thought, was impossible.

"I have seen some good things being done by the House. One of them is the investigative power of the House. This is being implemented more than we did. There is also continuity which was one thing lacking in the politics of this country. I will like to urge them to do a similar good job with the electoral reforms process so that our elections can be respected by the international community", he said.

Another former Speaker, Chief Anekwe (1992-1993), described the event as a "re-union of the old and new." He praised the House for the job done since 2007 and appealed to them not to succumb to pressure from any quarters. He emphasised the need for a genuine reform of the electoral system.

"The Legislature, at various times, has different challenges. Our own challenge was different but I must say that I am proud that you are discharging your responsibilities. I commend your oversight functions. We urge you to extend the same sense of duty to the electoral reforms process and do not allow anybody to frustrate you", he said.

The first Speaker of this democratic dispensation, Alhaji Salisu Buhari, recalled that the beginning was quite challenging as there were no structures on the ground to rely on. He further said that right from 1999, the House resolved to assert its independence, and urged the present members to keep the efforts on course.

Apparently recalling the strained relationship between the Executive and the House of Representatives under his Speakership, Alhaji Ghali Umar Na'Abba said the Executive thought it was going to be business as usual but the House insisted on a paradigm shift which brought it at loggerheads with the Executive under former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

He also said that for taking that position, the Executive, throughout his tenure as Speaker, was busy plotting to remove him. "They thought it was going to be business as usual but we decided that Nigeria must change. We struggled for it. It was painstaking because we were staying awake day and night and for four years, it was the desire of the Executive to remove the Speaker and we made sacrifice to stop it. You owe it a duty to ensure that there is no tyranny. The House must take the electoral reform serious because it is the soul of democracy", he said.

On his part, Masari described the occasion as "coming back home. He said the Legislature is an "endangered specie." He urged the House to lay a solid foundation for electoral reform in the country beginning with the current effort at amending the constitution.

Masari appealed to the lawmakers to be tolerant of the opposition, stressing: "Don't look at the opposition as enemies rather, we should see them as necessary tools."

Other former Presiding Officers who spoke included Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Chibudom Nwuche and Austin Opara, all former Deputy Speakers of the House.

Former Leaders of the House, Mohammed Wakil and Mohammed Kumalia, also spoke and stressed the need to reduce turnover rate of lawmakers, particularly in the National Assembly.

Earlier, the House Leader, Tunde Akogun, had moved a motion urging the House to put in place a modality for addressing high turnover rate of members. In his submission, Akogun noted that it was unfortunate that most members of the Chamber hardly made it back to the chamber through elections.

He said the situation was impeding the growth of the Legislature because of dearth of experienced lawmakers. He, therefore, urged "the current leadership of the House to take all steps to further strengthen legislative capacity by institutionalising this initiative of building one family of Honourable members of the House of Representatives serving and past using such platform to forge and develop a huge pool of legislative resource."

All the members who spoke on the motion were in total agreement with the mover and when the Speaker put the question, it was passed.

Addressing the session, the Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, gave the picture of democratic journey in the country, noting that the anniversary called for both reflection and celebration.

His words: "Democracy has been defined as the government of the people, by the people and for the people. Representative government in Nigeria dates back to 1951 under the Macpherson Constitution, and the Lyttelton Constitution of 1954. It is regrettable and indeed unfortunate, that democracy, as a popular and acceptable system of government lasted for only six years from 1960 on Nigeria's attainment of independence, to 1966 when the military terminated the democratic process.

"It is also sad to note that attempts at democratic governance to give the people of Nigeria the opportunity to elect their own leaders had suffered severe setbacks such that 49 years after Nigeria became a sovereign nation, the people of this country experienced only a combined period of 20 years of truncated democratic governments elected by the people. It is a common knowledge that the absence of democracy in Nigeria for 29 years as a result of the inability of the people to elect their own governments, and it was not their fault, has adversely affected the growth and development of democratic institutions and the Legislature, particularly."

While paying glowing tribute to Nigeria's House of Representatives, past and present, through whose efforts democracy in the country has come to stay, the Speaker stressed that "10 years of sustained democracy and legislative growth in Nigeria calls for cheers and celebrations.

"During this period, the House of Representatives has worked tirelessly to preserve the unity of this country and promote the well-being of its people. May I, therefore, seize the opportunity offered by this occasion to congratulate the people of this country for their resilience, patriotism and support for democratic ideals. May I also on this historic occasion congratulate our colleagues, past and present, through whose efforts democracy has come to stay", he added.

But Ekweremadu said that efforts at giving the nation acceptable constitution since 1999 had remained futile because the country lacked "precedence of procedure of our own to fall back on" for such exercise.

He said: "We have variously tried to deal with constitution amendment the same way we handle conventional bill without success. The constitution is also not detailed or explicit on the procedures to be adopted in amending it. For instance, whereas it specifies that the States' Houses of Assembly are to vote "yes" or "No' on the amendments carried out by the National Assembly, it does not define the time-frame within which such ratification should take place. We, therefore, need to create our own rules of procedure specifically for constitution amendment."

The Deputy Senate President, in a lecture to mark the second Alumni home-coming of the Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) in Enugu, added that other contentious issues arising from Nigeria's political history, inclusivity and participatory principles have played greater roles in hindering the review of the existing constitution.

He stated that though the current constitution has been accused of contradicting other principles like fiscal federalism, which vested all resources on the central government, inelegant drafting and structural imbalances, among others, there was need to tread with caution in pushing for the amendment so as to avoid the mistake of the past.

Ekweremadu, who spoke on the topic "10 years of Democracy and the Quest for Amendment of the 1999 Constitution", further identified electoral reforms, resource control, executive immunity, guarantee of economic, social and cultural rights as some specific areas requiring review in the 1999 Constitution, assuring that the present National Assembly would ensure they were amended.

Agreeing that issue of structure of leadership of the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review (JCCR), constituted by the present National Assembly was responsible for the misunderstanding that has marred the effort, he assured that plans have reached advanced stage between Senate and House of Representatives to allow the process go on.

Although he gave a thumb-up to the Joint Constitution Committee of the fourth National Assembly as being the first time in history that Nigerian people had opportunity to make constitution, he said that the effort could have been allowed to pass the second reading of the House in view of the effort and resources put into it.

To assist the committees of the present National Assembly however to overcome what he described as "precedents in similar efforts in the past as well as constitutional provisions regarding protocol in the National Assembly", Ekweremadu suggested autonomy, true federalism and independence of the Legislature.

He stated that an acceptable amendment of the 1999 Constitution demands that the National Assembly and state Assemblies whose responsibility it is to alter the provisions of the constitution do not defer to any interests other than the national interest and the will of the generality of the Nigerian people.

He further suggested identification of those areas in which national consensus have been built over the years and amend them incrementally as done in the United States of America (USA).

Ekweremadu, who further canvassed the strengthening of grey areas such as section 8 of the constitution, which provides for the creation of states, said that the provision was ambiguous as it has never been used by any civilian administration to create states in the country.

Explaining that it would be pretty difficult within the current frame-work to meet desires for state creation under the section, there was need to remodel the frame-work, stressing that as long as fresh realities and circumstances continue to change, the need to alter existing clauses of the constitution would continue.








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