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Millions of amendments, can’t redeem Nigeria’s constitution – Ozekhome
Only a total abandonment for a new document where all Nigerians would join in making its constitution will redeem the flaws in the polity caused by the faulty one currently in operation in the country, Mike Ozekhome, foremost constitutional lawyer, said on Monday.
Ozekhome Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), argued that left the way it is, not even a million amendments would transform it into a workable document that would serve the purpose of the people, because of its defects.
A guest of The Morning Show, a breakfast programme on ARISE NEWS television, argued that the current constitution, remained an “illegitimate document,” because it was not a product of the people, but that of the military, adding that the introduction – we the people – was fraudulent.
Hear him: “The issue is not about amending the constitution. I have said again and again that you cannot amend a bad document. A bad, illegitimate document that never proceeded from the people through a popular plebiscite or referendum can never be the product of the people.
“I have said it again and again, that even one million amendments to the present constitution cannot solve it. We are still talking about constitutional amendment when we should be talking about introducing a brand-new constitution that reflects our diversity as a nation, reflects our multi-religious linguistic inclination.”
Ozekhome, who dismissed ongoing constitutional amendments by the National Assembly, as a distraction, stressed that even a million changes would be meaningless unless Nigeria started afresh with a truly people-driven process, adding that a complete reset – what he described as a tabula rasa – similar to a symbolic cleansing, was the only way to go.
“What we need, is a total beginning, a fresh beginning, like from a tabula rasa, like Naaman the leper that dipped himself in River Jordan seven times and became cleansed of his leprosy.
“The present constitution, apart from its original sin, like that of Adam, of being a product of a military dictator, through the promulgation of the decree number 24 of 1999, apart from the fact that the constitution is actually a schedule attached to a decree, which therefore told a lie about itself in his preamble by saying ‘we the people’ of Nigeria do hereby make and give to ourselves the following constitution. Apart from that original sin, the present constitution, no matter the amendments, cannot take us forward.
“It cannot take us forward because one, it operates a unitary system of government. All the provisions, not a federal system of government. Two, it dispossesses the people of their economic, social, political, and cultural rights. Three, it is too heavy, on the side of wastages and leakages, which makes Nigeria today use about 70 per cent to 80 per cent of our national resources, to service recurrent expenditure and public debts, thus leaving only 20 per cent to 30 per cent for capital expenditure.
“No nation can grow like that. We are not going to grow like that. So, when we are talking about a constitution like this being amended, you are really pursuing shadows where you should pursue substance. What for example, are we doing with 109 senators and 360 House of Representative members? Do you know the senate has over 45 committees? Each committee is fully staffed with members, with employees.
“We have a system where one position has accretions up to 10. Thus, we have an SSA, Senior Special Assistant, after a Special Advisor, Senior Special Assistant, then Special Assistant, then Personal Assistant. Do you know how many ministries we are operating? Well over 40 ministries.”
Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Governor of Oyo State, on Thursday, finally threw his hats into the ring by declaring his intention to run for president in 2027, with a message – history beckons.
The governor, whose ambition has been a matter of speculations for months now and who had teamed up with forces angling to force President Bola Tinubu, out of power, told a teeming crowd in Ibadan on Thursday that time had come to reset Nigeria.
At a mega-rally to announce the alliance between the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and the Allied Peoples’ Movement, (APM), Makinde, expressed worry over the dwindling fortunes of Nigerians, vowing to engage Nigerians to end the drift.
Hear him: “Without a multi-party system, there is no democracy. Where is our multi-party? Where do we go from here? We have been pushed to the wall.
“They calculated and self-opposition cannot unite but I am here to say that the opposition is the everyday Nigerian. This is the time for all us to ensure Nigeria works for us. This is the time to confront it fears. It is time to engage as citizens and not spectators.
“For the opposition political parties, this is the time to unite and work in unity and give our nation the much reset it needs. The time to reset Nigeria is now. Ibadan is the city of warriors. The first grand alliance is formed. The PDP and APM is formed. This handshake will allow us to field candidates from presidency to state Assembly. And so, I declare my candidacy for office of the president of Nigeria.”
Eyo Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), on Wednesday, gave a detailed account on how operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) manhandled him on Monday.
He told reporters that he was at sea on why he should fall victim to the assault against his person and eventually arrested given that was not right person directly involved in the information the agency sought.
Some operatives of the EFCC who invaded the hospital, had whisked Ekpe away after firing teargas to scare away the workers, patients and visitors to the hospital, following what appeared like a fracas the ensued over what it claimed was a routine duty in the facility.
Ekpe, Deputy Chairman of the hospital’s Medical Advisory Committee (MAC), described how an operative had first entered his office to make inquiries on why the hospital was yet to give a response to an EFCC inquiry over a medical report linked to a suspect facing trial.
He detailed how he briefed the operative that the said response was being prepared and even went ahead to show him the draft of a letter in that regard, which needed to go through the gamut of official endorsement before being released.
Hear him: “The head of that internal medicine department looked at the report and also discovered that the name of the doctor that signed the report is not a member of staff of that department.
“I had prepared prepared a response to the EFCC on Monday, May 11, 2026, based on the findings. When the EFCC operative visited my office the next morning to collect the document, I told him that the response was ready in draft. I even showed him the draft, but told him that the document still needed approval from the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital before it could be officially signed and released.
“He pretended to have accepted that. He left, but later later returned with another armed operative and informed me that I was under arrest. I asked him why. I was not the one that issued the medical report. My name is not on the medical report. The report was not issued from my unit.
“But he said I would get the answer when I get to their office. I then asked him to at least wait for my staff member who I sent on an errand before joining them. But they refused.
“They started pushing me. They dragged me out of the office. Then I began to cry while they were dragging me. They had warned me not to speak. They had taken my phone. My cry as they were dragging me, attracted the workers to the scene, who enquired what was going on, but because they ordered me not to speak, I couldn’t say anything. They had their guns.
The members of staff of the hospital initially blocked them from taking me away. They then made a call. After that I saw many masked and armed men came violently, broke the protector, threatening the people that were around and people ran away.
“They picked some staff that were still by me. they dragged me and other staff, five of us into their van downstairs. By that time they discovered that the gate of the hospital were locked. So, they drove towards the gate and packed and the commotion continued. We were inside the van.
“I was so emotionally and psychologically traumatised that I couldn’t even look out of the vehicle to see what was happening outside. But I know that teargas and live bullets were shot. That’s all I can say for now.”
Joyce Abdulmalik, of the Federal High Court, Abuja, heard on Wednesday, how Zenith Bank raised alarm over the huge transaction in one of its branches by Abubakar Malami, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF-MoJ).
The bank said it immediately filed a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) in respect to the transactions, during its appearance in the ongoing trial of Malami, his wife, and son over allegation of massive looting of funds belonging to the Federal Government during his tenure.
Mashelia Bata, a compliance officer with the bank, who appeared as witness in the case, where Malami, et al, are facing a 16-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering to the tune of N8.7 billion, to which they pleaded not guilty, gave the testimony while being questioned on the bank’s roles in the matter.
Details of the testimony conveyed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), stated how the compliance officer who was cross-examined by Adebayo Adedeji, lawyer to the defendants admitted that the deposits in the account statements complied with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Arguments had stretched when Adedeji, opposed Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), lawyer to the EFCC, who had asked the witness to explain the meaning of a suspicious transaction report, stressing that there was no ambiguity in the term.
However, Okutepa, in response, maintained that section 215(3) of the Evidence Act did not preclude him from re-examining the witness while urging the court to allow the question for proper explanation.
After Abdulmalik, agreed and overruled Adedeji, the witness told the court that banks were required to alert the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) about fund deposits coming in a repetitive pattern, adding: “Any deposition of funds seen in a pattern or repetitive, you must escalate it to the NFIU.”
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