…says Nigeria needs transition period until 2031 to hold referendum on new constitution
…warns against growing defection to ruling party and urges opposition to emulate Tinubu
Wole Olanipekun, a legal luminary and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has advised the National Assembly to stop further action on the amendment of the 1999 constitution and prepare the nation for an acceptable new constitution.
…says Nigeria needs transition period until 2031 to hold referendum on new constitution…warns against growing defection to ruling party and urges opposition to emulate Tinubu
Olanipekun, who laid the foundations of the 1999 and other constitutions of the country, noted that the country will find it difficult to achieve greatness and development unless there is a new document generally acceptable to the country.
To achieve this, he called on federal legislators to suspend the ongoing process of amending the Constitution and prepare the country for a transition after the 2027 general elections, where a referendum for a new document will be held in 2031.
Strongly advocating the holding of a national referendum, he described it as “a solemn act by which people speak collectively in unison to decide matters of grave national importance.”
He held that sovereignty, as enshrined in Section 14(2)(a) of the current 1999 Constitution, resides with the people, who therefore have an inalienable right to determine how they wish to be governed.
Olanipekun made this known on Monday while delivering the convocation lecture for the 13th convocation ceremony of the Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), titled ‘Nigeria – yesterday, today and tomorrow: imperative for a sober and definitive recalibration’.
He said the current constitution had outlived its usefulness and legitimacy, describing it as a mere document that “tells lies against itself” and has failed to represent the core ideals, diversity and aspirations of the federated units of Nigeria.
“The National Assembly should, for the time being, suspend action on the current amendment or any additional amendment to the 1999 Constitution. This Constitution needs a new name change, a complete revision, a total replacement. It has to be a negotiated document that paves the way for a new social order.
“There is no need to repeat the obvious that Nigeria, today, needs to be renamed, reoriented, restructured, renewed, renegotiated, reorganized, reactivated, revitalized, resurrected and, by extension, recalibrated. You can’t make omelettes without breaking eggs; you can’t play Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark and you can’t put together an orchestra without fixing the crescendo
“What is the relevance of the above? From the beginning, in particular. Since this current Constitution was said to be in the ‘bakery’ or ‘oven’ during the regime of General Abdusalam Abubakar, I had joined the vanguard of those clamoring for a people’s constitution; a constitution peculiar to the background and nuances of Nigeria; a constitution that will emerge through consensus or near-consensus; a constitution to be negotiated during the cross-fertilization of ideas; a constitution of mutual understanding and collaboration; a constitution that will be put to a referendum, after which the majority of Nigerians will be able to affirm that this is our Constitution.
“I must not be wrong in suggesting that every Nigerian should participate in the making of the Constitution, but any Nigerian who wants to should be able to do so, whether through his elected representative or by expressing his views,” he said.
The former president of the Corps of Magistrates added that the country’s fundamental challenges arise from a defective constitutional structure that concentrates power in the center, emasculates the states and perpetuates inequality in all its fullness.
Olanipekun recalled that since the 1999 Constitution was adopted by General Abdulsalami Abubakar’s army and came into force, he had been part of the vanguard advocating for a people-oriented constitution that would emerge from public participation and a referendum.
He revealed that as early as 2002, during his tenure as NBA President, he had spoken openly to former President Olusegun Obasanjo about the shortcomings of the 1999 Constitution, describing it as far removed from the realities of Nigeria’s plural society.
Olanipekun recommended a transition phase between now and 2031, to allow Nigeria to gather, review and harmonize previous constitutional efforts, including the reports of the various restructuring conferences and committees, before the drafting of a new consensus document.
He said: “During the transition period, elections will continue to be held and the winners will serve their terms, but with the understanding that on May 29, 2031, Nigeria will operate under a new Constitution, a new structure and a new dawn.”
The former NBA president drew parallels with international examples, from the 1946 Italian referendum that ended the monarchy, to Britain’s 2016 Brexit and Equatorial Guinea’s 2025 constitutional referendum, which recorded more than 90 percent voter approval.
According to him, referendums are not foreign to the political evolution of Nigeria, recalling the 1961 plebiscite that allowed Southern Cameroons to choose between Nigeria and Cameroon, and the 1963 referendum that led to the creation of the Midwest Region.
“So what is the way out? Some members of this audience might have been taken aback by my earlier suggestion of a transition period between now and May 29, 2031; a suggestion or recommendation that is not only made in good faith but arises from the reality of the conundrum in which we find ourselves.
“The time has come for the federated units to take charge of the reconfiguration, redefinition, repair, restructuring, remodeling and re-engineering of Nigeria to achieve stability in all its forms, including but not limited to security, constitutional architecture, form or type of government (whether presidential or parliamentary), etc. It is the referendum, and not the National Assembly, that will decide whether or not Nigeria needs a National Assembly, and if yes, whether full-time or part-time membership; their permanence, remunerations, etc.
“In other words, this National Assembly cannot act like that Referendum since one cannot be the judge of one’s own cause. It is the federative units that will make the arrangements for the Referendum that is suggested; how it will be carried out, through what means it will be carried out, what the parameters or commitments will be, etc,” said the legal icon.
On the rising wave of defections in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the country, Olanipekun identified the lack of clear ideologies among political parties, adding: “If this is the situation, it could be very difficult or not so easy for people from one party to migrate to the other as often with remarkable ease as we see today.”
He urged opposition political gladiators to emulate the firmness and commitment of President Bola Tinubu when he was the face of the opposition from 1999 to 2015, despite intimidation and harassment by the then ruling PDP party.
“If President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, either as Governor Tinubu or subsequently as ‘Citizen Tinubu’, had succumbed to harassment and intimidation by the then ruling party PDP, Nigeria would have become a one-party state as early as 2023 or immediately thereafter. Even when he was arraigned before the Code of Conduct Court on some criminal charges, he did not blink or panic, rather, he instructed. his legal team, led by my humble self, to request notification of the charge on his behalf, before he was formally notified, as the news had already been leaked to the press and public.
“Until he was acquitted and acquitted, he was physically present at all Court proceedings. Tinubu not only resisted and survived the PDP tsunami, but also encouraged opposition figures to join, eventually giving rise to the APC in 2013.
“Let us not easily forget that the great Abraham Lincoln contested the presidency of the United States seven times before he finally triumphed and became one of the world’s greatest statesmen. At all times, he did not desert his political party,” he said.
Regarding security, the legal icon who reiterated the urgent need for state and community police, criticized the overly centralized system that leaves governors as “security chiefs” with no real control over police operations in their states.
Referencing the United States, Germany, Canada and Switzerland, the elder statesman argued that decentralized policing aligns with federal principles and improves responsiveness to local security challenges.
“The idea of police is basically local or communal and cannot be central or regulated from outside the immediate community as such. What is meant is that it is equally an inalienable right of each community to have its own rural or community police.
“Without prejudice to the earlier proposal that the National Assembly should suspend action on the amendment of the Constitution, the state, community, provincial and zonal police formations should be established now, without further ado,” Olanipekun said.
He further advocated for a reconfiguration of Nigeria’s federal structure through the geopolitical zones, which he said should be empowered to drive the country’s rebirth and recalibration.
Olanipekun noted that the six-zone agreement, introduced under General Sani Abacha, has now gained practical expression under President Tinubu through the creation of regional development commissions.
He argued that it is the federative units, not the Federal Government, that should determine the structure and governance framework of the nation.
“It is the States that give rise to the center, and not the other way around,” he stated. “Nigeria needs healing, reconciliation and rebirth and it is through engagement of the zones that this rebirth can begin,” he added.
Speaking, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN commended the skill of the convening speaker for his well-researched lecture he presented, adding that it has been his constant advocacy for the country to have a new constitution that would lay the foundation for overall development and growth.
He lamented that the current situation of the country is worrying with the socioeconomic challenges that mitigate its progress, suggesting that urgent measures must be taken so that the nation can compete favorably with the countries of the world.
Babalola promised to send a copy of the lecture and an accompanying letter to President Bola Tinubu and both houses of the National Assembly, “for urgent action because Nigeria is in crisis at the moment.”
For his part, the former Minister of Education and Pro-Chancellor of ABUAD, Professor Tunde Adeniran, while praising the depth of the Olanipekun conference on the way forward for the nation, called for a change of mindset on the part of the citizens so that a possible new constitution achieves the desired results.
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