Foremost human right activist and lawyer, Mr Femi Falana,
SAN, has directed that former president Olusegun Obasanjo be held responsible
for loopholes in the constitution.
Speaking in Lagos, last week, during the launch of the
minority report written by Professor Olusegun Osoba and Dr. Yusufu Bala Usman,
Mr. Femi Falana, said that the lacuna in the 1979 and 1999 constitutions would
have been removed long ago, if Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in 1976 had accepted and
implemented the Minority Report and Draft Constitution for the Federal Republic
of Nigeria written by Osoba and Usman.
He said that the controversy that surrounds the birthplace
of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and what qualifies someone to be a citizen of Nigeria
were clearly resolved in the Minority Report. Falana said that unknown to the
youths of this generation, the ‘Not Too Young to Run’ campaign was initially
championed by Osoba and late Usman, 43 years ago. He said: ‘’Unknown to the Not
Too Young to Run campaigners (who sometimes make a fetish of age in politics),
Osoba and Usman had recommended in Section 145 of their own Draft Constitution
way back in 1976 the minimum age of 30 as part of the qualifications to contest
for the office of president or governor.
”Similarly, the constitutional immunity for the president
and governors and their respective deputies was hotly contested by Osoba and
Usman during the making of the 1979 Constitution. ”According to them, the
immunity provisions contradict violently the fundamental principle of the
equality of all citizens before the law and is an unwarranted attempt to shield
these high officials of the state from the full rigours of the law as would
apply to the other citizens of Nigeria in similar situations of misconduct or
improper conduct. ”Other similarly remarkable provisions encapsulated in the
Draft, but were regrettably rejected by the Obasanjo regime, include those on
accountability by those in power; the purpose and management of political
parties as well as the appointment of a prime minister by the elected president
for the purpose of diffusing power. ”As Osoba and Usman rightly put it, the
1979 Constitution is a deliberate effort at mystification for the selfish
interests of the bourgeoisie. The constitution is verbose. It is laden with
technical loopholes. It is unwieldy with some contradictory provisions. As a
matter fact, the pull for the Chapter II of the 1979 Constitution, which is
also incorporated in the 1999 Constitution, was actually the Minority Report of
Osoba and Usman that we are celebrating today.’’
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