Bakare Advises Buhari on New Constitution, National Reconciliation

Bakare Advises Buhari on New Constitution, National Reconciliation

President Muhammadu Buhari has been advised to leverage his good will among Nigerians to take far reaching decisions that would spur genuine national progress even in the face of global economic crisis.

Speaking on Sundayon the topic: 'Championing the Cause for a New Nigeria’, during a national broadcast marking the 27 years anniversary of his church, The Latter Rain Assembly, the running mate to President Buhari on the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) platform in 2011, Pastor Tunde Bakare, called for the creation of a ‘New Constitutional Order and a National Reconciliation Commission’.

"Now, all that is required to give Nigeria a national rebirth is the political will of a president who enjoys a great deal of respect from the Nigerian people, including those who do not support him. The president may exercise this political will by creating a novel institution," Bakare implored.

According to the cleric, one of such areas that needs to be addressed is the 1999 constitution, which he said lacks the capability to move Nigeria to the next level.

"Whoever holds the view that the current constitution is sufficient as the national norm fails to recognise the aberrations which the constitution itself represents, or the import of these aberrations on our national psyche or value system.

"Contrary to its claim that 'we the people' gave ourselves a constitution, the 1999 Constitution was designed without the participation of the Nigerian people," he said, stressing that: “This non-inclusion of a people in a process by which they supposedly resolved to give themselves a constitution is unrivalled in the history of political falsehood, thereby laying the foundation for a culture of political fraudulence. It was also a lost opportunity for a pre-transition learning experience in democratisation."

With reference to insider report by a former director at the presidency, Mr.  Eric Teniola, who revealed that the committee that produced the 1999 constitution "visited just few states, stayed most of the time in Abuja, held public hearings just for a few days, compiled its report and submitted, doubting that the government of the day would even approve it," Bakare described the constitution as "shoddily put together."