
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kunle Adegoke, has warned that no constitutional reform will succeed unless Nigerian politicians commit themselves to the true spirit of the law, stressing that legal texts alone cannot fix systemic failure.
Speaking in an interview with Arise News on Wednesday, He argued that even the most brilliant legal documents are useless without sincere implementation, comparing it to the misuse of sacred texts.
He said “While it is good to have a constitution that is brilliantly couched, fantastically prepared and enacted into law, if the people that will implement them do not share the spirit of the constitution, definitely we are still going to have a very big problem,” Adegoke said.
“Politicians themselves need to imbibe the spirit of constitutionalism, the spirit of legality that will give effect to this process. Yes, if people can use the Bible and the Quran for negative purposes, then one wonders what particular human creation cannot be used for negative purposes.”
Adegoke was responding to remarks by Professor Itse Sagay, who recently described the proposed amendment of 60 sections of the 1999 Constitution as an exercise in futility. While acknowledging Sagay’s expertise, Adegoke said constitutional reform remains necessary — though not every proposal is useful or realistic.
“Professor Sagay is a celebrated constitutional lawyer… and to a large extent, he has a very valid point with respect to some areas of the constitutional amendments,” Adegoke said. “A constitution is not only a living document. It is equally a working document. And that is why it is important for it to be critically re-examined at every point of a nation’s development.”
He added, however, that some proposals — such as the plan to create 40 new states — may be misguided. “How viable would these new states be in the face of the existing states failing the test of viability?” he asked. “A lot of sentiments might be responsible for bringing this as part of the constitutional reform efforts.”
Instead, he urged the National Assembly to focus on critical areas such as the autonomy of the judiciary and local governments, the creation of state police, fiscal federalism, and increased representation for women in politics.
“Nigeria today is still bedevilled by the incubus and succubus of insecurity,” he said. “It would be good to have a constitution that can substantially address this issue and pave the way for the various organs of government to deliver on the security demands of the people.”
On gender inclusivity, Adegoke noted that women are not only demographically dominant but also educationally competitive. “We have many women going to universities. The current pattern of results from WAEC, from JAMB, from the universities shows women carting away prizes while men are sleeping,” he said. “We need to make sure that the constitution and the laws implementing it prioritise women’s inclusivity in governance.”
Turning to electoral reform, Adegoke said that the introduction of innovations such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and electronic transmission of results has not been effectively implemented. He cited the Osun State governorship election and its legal aftermath as an example of the challenges of electoral integrity.
“It behoves the National Assembly to actually look at what is the importance of BVAS? What is the effective use of BVAS to ensure that results are effectively conducted, counted, and announced?” he said.
He called for constitutional clarity on the status of digital electoral tools, and how they relate to physical documents in the collation and declaration of results. “That may create more validity for the electoral results that we are going to be producing,” he added.
Adegoke also supported the introduction of diaspora voting but warned that infrastructural gaps must first be addressed. “There are millions of Nigerians abroad where there are effective network services that can prop the use of resources for diaspora voting,” he said. “If they can be sending money home and enriching our economy, they should have the right to participate in determining who governs them.”
On the controversial idea of independent candidacy, he expressed support for reforms that would allow individuals to contest elections without party affiliation. However, he cautioned that technological solutions like electronic voting are not silver bullets.
“At the level of the Nigerian Bar Association, we’ve seen electronic elections plagued by allegations of rigging. So, electronic voting does not automatically guarantee free and fair elections,” Adegoke said. “Aside from having the law, we need the will to make it work. In all societies where it has succeeded, they allow the system to work.”
He concluded with a call to the National Assembly: “Work on the constitutional reform so that we can at least know that we have a document that, if allowed to work, can deliver good results.”
Boluwatife Enome
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