A prominent group of Nigerian statesmen, known as The Patriots, has called on President Bola Tinubu to convene a constituent assembly to draft what they describe as “a people democratic pluralistic constitution” for the country. The group, led by former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Emeka Anyaoku, met with the president at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja on Friday.
Following the meeting, Anyaoku addressed State House correspondents, urging the president to forward an executive bill to the National Assembly that would legislate for a national referendum to approve the draft constitution. He explained that the proposed 109-member constituent assembly should be tasked with producing the draft constitution, which would then be subjected to a referendum.
Anyaoku emphasized that this referendum would be crucial in conferring legitimacy on the new constitution. “We put some proposals to Mr. President and we urged him to send a president’s executive bill to the National Assembly, a bill that will call for two essential measures,” he stated. “One, the convening of a National Constituent Assembly, to be mandated to produce a new draft constitution. We suggested that such a National Constituent Assembly should consist of individuals elected by the people on a non-party basis. Say, for example, three individuals per state, per each of the 36 states, and one from the Federal Capital Territory, and they should be mandated to produce a new draft constitution.”
Anyaoku argued that Nigeria requires a pluralistic constitution to effectively address its developmental challenges. Drawing comparisons with other nations, he noted that countries like Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and Sudan, which failed to manage their pluralism through a federal constitution, eventually disintegrated. In contrast, he highlighted India and Canada as examples of countries that have remained resilient by adopting pluralistic constitutions.
“Nigeria, we affirmed to Mr. President, is a pluralistic country. And you all know that pluralistic countries exist all over the world. Those of them who addressed their pluralism by having true federal constitutions have survived. An example is India and Canada,” Anyaoku explained. “But pluralistic countries that failed to address their basic challenge of pluralism through a federal Constitution have ended up disintegrating. Examples of that are Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and Sudan, here in Africa.”
In addition to their constitutional proposals, The Patriots also addressed the ongoing #EndBadGovernance protest, urging President Tinubu to engage in dialogue with the movement’s leaders. They further advised law enforcement agencies to refrain from using lethal weapons against protesting civilians.
