Federalism: NBA seeks review of 1999 Constitution

The Onitsha, Anambra State Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association has called for review of 1999 Constitution of Nigeria to reflect true federalism and give regions room to develop independently.
The Branch Chairman, Ikenna Chibuzor, made the call on Tuesday in Onitsha at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Law Week.
Chibuzor said that the present concentration of resources of the country in the Federal Government would not allow for economic growth and development.
He said that concentrating the major revenue sources in the federation account would only make the states lazy as they looked forward to their cuts from the revenue allocation.
The chairman expressed support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against corrupt Judges, but said that the rule of law should be followed.
He said the Nigerian Judicial Council should be allowed their constitutional duty to punish every judicial officer or else there would be continued desecration of the sanctity of the temple of justice.
In a keynote address, a former Governor of the state, Peter Obi, advised political parties and INEC to earn the confidence of the masses by allowing credible conduct of elections in the country.
Obi said: “It is indeed sad that the culture of internal democracy is not being developed and nurtured within our political parties which have impacted negatively on the growth and sustenance of democracy in Nigeria.
“If there is anything that will save our democracy in this country, it is the evolvement of a credible electoral process which will both entrench democracy and ensure the good governance which we all desire.’’
The theme of this year’s Law Week was: “The Role of Credible Electoral Process in the Institution of Democracy and Good Governance.”