BACKGROUND

PREAMBLE

 

The Citizen's Forum for Constitutional Reform (C.F.C.R) is a coalition of civil society organisations committed to a process-led and participatory approach to constitutional reform in Nigeria. The forum was formally inaugurated in October 1999 following a conference on the 1999 constitution and the future of Democracy in Nigeria held in Abuja from 29th June - 2nd July 1999. Presently the Forum has a National Steering Committee, Zonal Co-ordinators and State Coordinators for all states of the federation and Abuja. The C.F.C.R is therefore a response and complementary initiative aimed at mobilising grass roots opinion and independent monitoring of the constitution review process.

 

DEFECTS IN THE 1999 CONSTITUTION

 

It is no longer in dispute that the 1999 constitution is essentially flawed. It is a conviction that is shared by both government and the civil society. It is this conviction that made the Federal Government to establish the Technical Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution with membership drawn from the three political parties. The Forum has been monitoring the work of this Committee and also noted the unanimity with which all strands of opinion in the country condemned the 1999 constitution and campaigned for its fundamental reform. The forum observes that the review process of the Federal Government is shallow, elitist, and restrictive and does not involve the people.

 

THE IMPERATIVE OF A PEOPLES CONSTITUTION

 

The numerous crises and the spate of ethnic and religious violence threatening Nigeria's nascent democracy and corporate existence are no doubt rooted in our socio-economic and political history. Their persistence confirms the simple fact that the constitution has defects and cannot provide the answers. There is therefore an urgent need to make a people's constitution that will significantly address the problems confronting the country. Such a constitution should reflect Nigeria's historical experiences, cultures, traditions and hopes for the future. The Constitution should be a dynamic document that will reflect the past, articulate the present and anticipate the future. The opportunity for making a people's constitution can be creatively utilised to mobilise the people to resolve the intractable conflicts in the country and reform the nature of governance.

 

The Forum insists that constitution making should not be a secret affair dominated and directed by political elites especially conservative lawyers and politicians. The forum argues that the constitution review process in Nigeria should incorporate the basic principles of constitution making. These principles include:

 

1.  Inclusivity -   All voices and opinions including those of minority groups should be heard and reflected. Efforts must be made to bring in the views and concerns of people from all works of life. Every identifiable community should be invited, assisted and encouraged to participate in the review process. Nationality groups, Women, students, the armed forces, the illiterate, disabled, the poor, rural dwellers, the youth, professions, trade unions, religious groups, traditional rulers, community organisations, prisoners, human rights and pro-democracy groups, political parties, cultural organisations etc. should be involved to say what they will like to see in the constitution.

2.  Diversity - The Committee charged with the review process and the process it­self must reflect existing diversity in terms of ethnic identity, language, religion and gender. It is the responsibility of the country's leadership and those leading the process to ensure that this diversity is reflected. If this diversity is not re­flected, the final document cannot claim to be democratic, legitimate and reflec­tive of popular view.

  3. Participation - The process must take on board the involvement of people at all levels in debating freely the content of the constitution. Every effort must be made to ensure that people participate in the process. Those leading the pro­cess must ensure that they put mecha­nisms in place such as accepting oral memoranda; organising debate and dis­cussion in local languages and aggres­sive publicity to make sure that people participate in the process. Participation by the people is crucial because if the people do not participate, both the pro­cess and the final document will be use­less and irrelevant to democratic renewal that is so badly needed in the country. It is necessary that the people not only par­ticipate in the process but also should have easy access to the process and the final constitution; understand it and use it in the defence of their individual and collective rights. The forum endorses the argument that participatory approach to constitution making is probably one of the best panaceas to instability, public cyni­cism, and alienation from government, coups and counter coups. The principle of participation is pivotal because the centrality of constitution to the democratic process is increasingly being recognised by scholars, activists and governments all over the world.

 

4. Transparency and Openness - The process must be transparent and open and must be seen by all to be so. There should be no "no go areas" and "no hid­den agenda". To ensure transparency and openness, all submission made to the review panel; analysis of the submis­sions and the draft constitution should be filed, annotated, published and circulated widely. Furthermore, anyone who sub­mits a memorandum should be acknowl­edged and drafts and final copy of the constitution sent to him/her.

 

5. Autonomy - The body charged with leading the review process must be au­tonomous and independent from govern­ment control. It should not be tied to the whims and caprices of any arm of gov­ernment. There should be an act of the National Assembly establishing the body. Furthermore, the final document to emerge from the process must not be tampered with by the government, and the process must be seen to be free from government control.

 

6. Accountability -The body charged with the responsibility of reviewing the con­stitution must be accountable to parlia­ment and the people. There should be periodic publication of report and progress of work in an open and trans­parent manner.

 

7. Legitimacy - Finally, a national referen­dum should be conducted to test the popularity of the draft constitution. The minimum vote for approval should be 51 % of "yes" votes. The referendum will further popularise the contents of the con­stitution and give the people the oppor­tunity to review the draft constitution and be sure that politicians have not elimi­nated their collective views.