The Federal Republic of Nigeria, by her Official Gazette No. 27, Vol. 86, of the 5th of May, 1999, under Government Notice No. 66, produced Decree No. 24, which made the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Promulgation) Decree 1999 possible. This was the legal instrument that produced the present grundnorm Nigeria is using now.
However, the whole activity that led to its production and subsequent promulgation was as a result of the fact that Nigeria was under military rule under the powerful Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) headed by the former Head of State, General Abdulsalam Abubakar.
The then Federal Military Government of Nigeria, in compliance with the Transition to Civil Rule (Political Programme) Decree 1998, provided the Independent National Electoral Commission that conducted elections to the following offices :
- President and Vice President.
- Governors and Deputy Governors.
- Council Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen
- The National Assembly.
- The State Houses of Assembly.
- The Local Government Councils.
But prior to the promulgation of this Constitution, the Federal Military Government, on the 11th of November 1998, inaugurated the Constitutional Debate Coordinating Committee that was charged with the responsibility of piloting the debate on the new Constitution across Nigeria and the world at large.
This led to the collection of large volumes of memoranda from Nigerians both at home and abroad. So also oral presentations at various public hearing debate centers to collate views and recommendations canvassed by individuals and groups for a new constitution for Nigeria.
The committee benefited from the receipt of these memoranda from Nigerians together with oral presentations. These resulted in the production of many resolutions that formed the general consensus of opinions of Nigerians of the desire to retain the provisions of the 1979 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with some amendments.
The report was presented to the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) by the Constitution Debate Coordinating Committee for deliberations and subsequently led to the approval by the Provisional Ruling Council of the report with amendments for the interest of the public and for the purpose of promoting security, welfare, and good governance.
Thus, the Provisional Ruling Council promulgated the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to take effect as of the 29th of May, 1999, by the Head and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria by decreeing that by its:
- Section 1(1) provides that there shall be for Nigeria a Constitution, which shall be set out in the Schedule to this Decree.
- And section 1(2) also provides that the Constitution set out in the Schedule to this Decree shall come into force on the 29th of May, 1999.
- While section 1(3) further provides that, whenever it may be necessary to print out this Constitution. The printing authority may by law omit all parts of this decree and shall have the force of law notwithstanding the omission.
As a result of these developments, the 1999 CFRN is that document that, even though given out by the military, was enriched by civilian contributions. Thus, the present inadequacies found in the Constitution could therefore be as a result of the dynamic nature of Nigerians’ conduct and behavior and the fact that there is no complete perfection in whatever is done by human beings.
As such, going by these factual narrations, it would be wrong to hold that the production of 1999 CFRN was totally a military affair. Indeed, there was input from non-military people, otherwise referred to as civilians or interest groups.
The only problem then was that, at that time, Nigerians were tired of the military system of governance. Even though much participation in this newfound civilian dispensation spearheaded by the military was viewed under doubtful speculations because of the fear of the unknown. Thus, not much interest was shown in this new business except by the old political gladiators of the 1960s and 1970s.
These personalities came out to face the risk and once more dived into another political landscape, which produced the present political climate in Nigeria of recycling and installation of surrogates to maintain continuity. The struggle to reset Nigeria must therefore be approached with patience, sincerity of purpose, and total good conscience that must be devoid of illegalities of any kind, such as
- Nepotism.
- Corruption.
- Terrorism primordial sentiments. Insincerities.
- Tribal and religious considerations.
Remedies
- Total reliance on the rule of law.
- Hold to your faith and follow its tenets strictly.
- Do not depend so much on life fantasies, as they are vanities
- Belief that one day ALL MUST DIE, leaving everything behind, as we came with nothing and we shall go back with nothing.
May we be guided.
Lakpene Yusuf Bida, Esq.
Public affairs analyst
19th April 2025.
Source: loyalnigerialawyer
