Robert Clark says the 1999 Constitution is a ‘Rotten Egg’, wants it jettisoned

The peace, progress, and stability of Nigeria ahead of the national and state elections in 2023 is plagued by a weakening economy, rising poverty, violent conflicts, and deepening divisions among other lows.

The dire situation of the country has heightened the clamour for the restructuring of the Nigerian state.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Robert Clark bore his mind on the state of the nation Monday as a guest on private national television. He talked passionately on restructuring the country as well as on other issues of urgent national concern and why he believes that the only way forward is for the constituent nationalities that make up Nigeria to come together and negotiate their co-existence.

There has been a plethora of calls already on the need to rejig the Nigerian constitution. Some clamour for a people’s constitution whereas others want a complete overhaul of the constitution.

The elder statesman said ” for the past ten years I have always said it and will continue to say it that the 1999 constitution is a rotten egg. We can never, never make anything out of it outside the fact that it was written by the military.

“The whole concept of it. A constitution that allows a man to be a governor for eight years and after finishing his term goes to prison. What sort of constitution is that. A constitution that allows a pauper who had nothing before he gets into the House of Assembly to serve four or eight years and come out as a multi-millionaire. That is not the type of constitution we want. A constitution that allows 80% of the revenue of the country to be used in sustaining governance. That is no constitution. That constitution has to be rewritten.

“Number one let me tell you the constitution cannot today with the revenue Nigeria has to maintain 36 States. Thirty-six States can only be maintained if there is enough revenue accruing to this country. Today since 20 years ago the economy of this country has been going down. The revenue of this country has been going down. We have to go on borrowing.

“My suggestion is this and I’ve always been saying it, restructure Nigeria. Turn it into eight geopolitical zones with eight governors and eight Attorney Generals instead of having thirty-six governors and thirty-six Attorney Generals.

On the electoral amendment act, he said “the law is very clear that once the National Assembly sent a bill to the President, has a limited time to respond. There is nothing wrong with the President’s action. It is political gymnastics. I Robert Clerk for example do not like a constitution that does not give room for independent candidacy. The bottom line is to have a free and fair election. I believe electronic transmission of results is the best way which is where the world is going. But let us not allow politics to have a way in the electoral process. Politicians are known to find a way out to rig elections.

He described as inappropriate the number of Policemen that guide politicians in public events. ” everybody in Nigeria who is nothing has a policeman. These are the things we have to stop in this country”.

“When I said it six months ago that the country is going down, I was nearly vilified. Today all the northern governors are now calling on the federal government to declare a state of emergency.

“What I will suggest is that let the States look after their own security. They created it. All the young boys that are on a rampage are their own creations. A person comes in as the governor of a State and controls all the money. They take money, spend money lavishly without any meaningful development. So let the States find a way to fight insurrections and leave the federal government alone to fight Boko Haram.

“States control what is called security vote. Security vote which he does not account for. All of them have been stealing the money. A security vote that has no bases in law. Security vote was a creation of the military. They should all be made to pay back or if not, they should be made to account for it instead of bankrolling projects. I give kudos though to some States like Akwa Ibom and a few other Southern states who are doing well even though they put their hands in money that the constitution has allowed them.

“What I am going to suggest is that Nigeria in the situation we find ourselves should come together, shut down our local government, shut down our States make sure that what we are earning is what we can afford. Make sure we develop Nigeria so that people will find work and investors can come into the country.