We need Nwabueze’s draft constitution, says Afenifere leaders

Prof. Nwabueze

The apex Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, has said Nigeria would need the services of foremost constitutional lawyer, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, in drafting a new constitution for the country after the proposed national conference.

The group said there was the need for ethnic nationalities to first decide what structure the country should take before the people’s constitution would be drafted.

Nwabueze had written to President Goodluck Jonathan offering to write a draft constitution to be considered during deliberations at the national conference.

Stating Afenifere’s stand on Nwabueze’s proposal, spokesman for the group, Yinka Odumakin, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the lawyer’s offer was patriotic but should come after decisions have been made on the structure of the country.

He said, “Prof. Nwabueze’s offer is a patriotic offer of a citizen, who is one of the foremost authorities in constitutionalism and federalism in Nigeria. But where Afenifere stands is that there can’t be a draft constitution until the people of Nigeria have decided what they want; whether they want to be a federal republic, confederal republic or unitary republic.

“When that is done, then we would need the services of the Nwabuezes of this world to draft a constitution based on decision of the Nigerian people on how they want to coexist. We should not put the cart before the horse. Definitely Nigeria will need the services of people like Prof. Ben Nwabueze to draft the constitution that can move the country forward.”

Last week, the Arewa Consultative Forum faulted Nwabueze’s offer, saying the lawyer was trying to determine the outcome of the conference. ACF also said Nwabueze could neither legitimately condemn the 1999 constitution nor write a new one.

Reacting to ACF’s position, Odumakin said the opposition of the northern group to Nwabueze’s offer was born out of “the fact that it (ACF) is not comfortable with federalism in Nigeria.”

He added that with the progress made by the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue, Afenifere was confident that the national conference would succeed in ushering in a new order.

“We believe that the conference is on course. We are now waiting for the committee to submit its report. They have gone round the country without problems. Except for the little hitch that happened in Benin, there was no other incident. We are waiting to see what they will recommend,” he said.

Odumakin also denied insinuations that the committee’s meetings in the South-West were not well attended.

He said all important Yoruba leaders were in attendance either at the meeting that was held in Akure, Ondo State, or the one that was held in Lagos.

“There was nobody who is somebody in Yorubaland that was not there, except the politicians. There is no important group in Yorubaland that was not at the meeting. The only organisation that is prominent in the South-West that was not there was the All Progressives Congress, and APC is not a Yoruba group. Yoruba has spoken with a voice that we want the national conference,” he said.