Military Didn’t Write 1999 Constitution – Abdulsalami

Former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.) has dismissed claims that Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution was written by the military.

Naija News reports that Abdulsalami said about 95 per cent of the document was lifted from the 1979 Constitution, which he said was drafted by civilian legal experts.

The claim comes amid renewed calls by prominent Nigerians for a new constitution, with critics insisting that the 1999 Constitution was imposed on the country by the military.

In Chapter 23 of his 264-page autobiography, Call of Duty, Abdulsalami said he set up a 25-member Constitution Debate Coordinating Committee after assuming office in June 1998.

The committee, chaired by Justice Niki Tobi, was mandated to coordinate national debate on the 1995 Draft Constitution, not to write a fresh one.

Abubakar wrote, “At the inauguration of the CDCC on 11 November 1998, I raised several contentious issues in the Draft 1995 Constitution and mandated them to come up with fresh ideas.

“I need to reemphasise here that their job was not to write a new constitution but to coordinate a debate on the draft. I have heard many critics say the Niki Tobi Committee was set up to write a new Constitution. That is absolutely false.”

Nigerians Preferred 1979 Constitution

Abubakar said the committee received 405 memoranda from ethnic, cultural and regional groups.

He said Nigerians at home and abroad overwhelmingly rejected the late Gen. Sani Abacha’s 1995 Draft Constitution and preferred the 1979 Constitution with amendments.

Quoting Justice Tobi’s report, Abdulsalami wrote, “In the light of the memoranda and the oral presentation on the 1995 Draft Constitution, it is clear that Nigerians basically opt for the 1979 Constitution with relevant amendments.

“Putting it in another language, the common denominator in the mouths of Nigerians the world over is the 1979 Constitution with relevant amendments.

“They want it, and they have copiously given their reasons for their choice in the different memoranda and oral presentations.

“So, we have recommended to the Provisional Ruling Council the adoption of the 1979 Constitution with relevant amendments from the Draft 1995 Constitution.”

The former Head of State said adopting the 1979 Constitution came as a relief because it offered a quick route out of political tension.

He wrote, “I must confess that this was a welcome relief to me. Adopting the Draft Constitution wholesale would definitely be opposed by the Afenifere/NADECO bloc, which never wanted to have anything to do with Abacha.

“There was the real danger that we could go into another phase of crisis over that. For someone who wanted to get the transition programme done with as quickly as possible, I was quite comfortable with the option of adopting the 1979 Constitution.

“In all honesty, the thoughts of the 1979 Constitution did not initially cross my mind at all. After Tobi’s presentation, I found it attractive. That Constitution was a well-debated document.”

‘Military Authorship Claim False’

Abubakar said the 1999 Constitution was rooted in the work of the Constitutional Drafting Committee set up in 1975 under Gen. Murtala Muhammed.

He wrote, “It is false to say the military wrote it. The 1979 Constitution and the Draft 1995 Constitution, both of which the 1999 Constitution borrowed from, were not written by the military, even if they were produced under military rule.

“They were written by some of the best brains the country had to offer. I need to put this on record because there are many Nigerians who are not aware of the history and keep repeating this distortion.”

Abubakar also dismissed criticism that the constitution lacked legitimacy because it was not subjected to a referendum. He said no Nigerian constitution, including the 1979 Constitution, had ever been put to a referendum.

“This argument is only applied to discredit the 1999 Constitution,” he wrote.

He said he signed Decree No. 24 of 1999 on May 5, 1999, to promulgate the Constitution, which took effect on May 29, 1999.

Abubakar added, “A Constitution is a living document. It is subject to amendments, alterations and updates.

“The U.S. Constitution has been amended 17 times in 200 years. Even the much-criticised 1999 Constitution has been amended five times. There is no perfect Constitution in the world.”