Anyaoku group asks Tinubu to form new constitution drafting committee

A group of prominent Nigerian figures, “The Patriots” on Friday called on President Bola Tinubu to convene a national constituent assembly to produce a new constitution for the country.

The group is led by former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku.

Anyaoku, who addressed reporters at State House at the end of a meeting with the president in Abuja, said the constituent assembly would consist of three members from each state elected by the people on a non-party basis.

He said the formation of a constituent assembly was one of the proposals submitted in a meeting with President Tinubu.

Anyaoku said: “We made several proposals to the President and urged him to send the presidential bill to the National Assembly, a bill that calls for two important steps.

“One of them is the holding of a National Constituent Assembly which is mandated to produce a draft of a new constitution. We also propose that the National Constituent Assembly consist of people elected by the people in a non-party manner.

“For example, three persons per state, for each of the 36 states and one person from the Federal Capital Territory and they should be mandated to draft a new constitution.

“We also propose that in this bill, the National Assembly is asked to make a law on a national referendum because based on the current law, we do not have a provision on a national referendum.

“We conclude by saying that the draft constitution emerging from the constituent assembly should be subject to a national referendum to give the Nigerian people an opportunity to determine the new constitution.

“We also discussed the current crisis of protests that are happening across the country. And we advised the President that in our view, the government at the federal and state levels should engage in dialogue with the leaders of the protests.”

Many prominent Nigerians in the past have demanded a new constitution for the country due to fundamental weaknesses in the 1999 constitution.

Anyaoku Group asks Tinubu to form new constitution drafting committee first appeared on Latest Nigeria News | Headlines from Ripples Nigeria.