Confab Recommendations Should Form New Constitution -Falana

Deputy Editor-In-Chief, Metro, News Agency Nigeria (NAN), Lagos, Mr Tony Nezianya (left), presenting the Story Book of NAN to Lagos State Commander, Vigilante Group of Nigeria, Prince Ademola Akerepa, during Commander’s visit to the agency in Lagos, yesterday

Human rights lawyer, activist and delegate at the on-going national conference in Abuja, Mr. Femi Falana has made a strong case for the inclusion of the recommendations of the conference in the constitution review process at the National Assembly.
Falana also expressed the hope that the recommendations that would emerge at the end of the three-month conference would be accepted by the National Assembly and co-opted into the emerging constitution.
Falana, who spoke with newsmen at the conference venue said he does not believe that the conference is an exercise in futility because it is timely – coming at a time that the National Assembly was undertaking a review of the 1999 Constitution, and expects that the conference reports would be considered in the course of amending the constitution.
“National Assembly has not come up to say, ‘we will not accept recommendations of the conference. A constitution review is in place and the National Assembly has a duty to take the interest of all Nigerians into consideration. And if the resolutions from the conference are serious; profound and address the problems of this country, there’s no way the National Assembly will not take cognizance of them”, he said.
Falana posited that sovereignty belongs to the people and not the National Assembly, emphasizing that “Section 14 (2) of the Constitution says, the sovereignty of Nigeria rests in the people; the people in government are mere representatives of the people. Sovereignty resides in Nigerians, it’s not transferable”, he added.

Justus Awaji,Abuja