BEVERLY HILLS, July 25 (THEWILL) – A former interim national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Bisi Akande, has identified the 1999 Constitution as the problem of Nigeria, warning the country may not experience the much-needed development without overhauling the entire document.

Speaking on Tuesday at the public presentation of Chief Sehinde Arogbofa’s book entitled, ‘Nigeria: The path we refuse to take,’ he stated that the constitution, which was designed for the people of the country by the military, promoted “criminal impunity in the governance of the country”.

Akande, who was the chairman on the launch held in Akure, argued that if Nigeria must make headway politically and socio-economically, the 1999 Constitution must be done away.

While demanding a stop to the piecemeal amendment to the document at the National Assembly, he warned that this has became imperative because the current amendment would aid the disintegration of Nigeria.

In order to avert this, the former Osun
governor called for the temporary replacement of the 1999 Constitution with the 1963 Republican Constitution pending the time a new constitution would be put in place for the nation.

He blamed the 1999 Constitution for the corruption ravaging the corruption, and the attendant underdevelopment, insisting that an amendment of the constitution would not bring out any good result.

Akande said, “The 1999 Constitution is Nigeria’s greatest misadventure since Lord Lugard’s amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Protectorates in 1914. The constitution puts emphasis on spending rather than making money, thereby intensifying the battles for supremacy between the legislature and the executive while the judiciary is being corruptly tainted and discredited.

“The constitution breeds and protects corrupt practices and criminal impunity in governance. The 1999 Constitution can never be beneficially reviewed and the ongoing piecemeal adjustments or amendments can only totally blot the essence of national values and accelerate the de-amalgamation of Nigeria.

“All the angels coming from heavens cannot make that constitution work for the progress of Nigeria. It should only be scrapped as a bad relic of military mentality; and it ought to be temporarily replaced with the 1963 Republican Constitution to enable a transition for the writing of a suitable constitution.

“Otherwise, the 1999 Constitution would continue to dwarf Nigeria’s economy and stifle the country’s social structure pending a disastrous and catastrophic bankruptcy.”