– Advocates suspension of Constitution Amendment
Sola POPOOLA
Senior Advocate Of Nigeria,(SAN),Chief Wole Olanipekun has acknowledged the profound roles played by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in ensuring the survival of opposition voices ,as Governor and late as President.
Chief Olanipekun who was the Guest Lecturer at the 13th Convocation of the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD )argued that “had President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whether as Governor Tinubu or thereafter as ‘Citizen Tinubu’ succumbed to the harassment and intimidation of the then PDP ruling party, Nigeria would have become a one-party state as far back as 2023 or immediately thereafter”
Speaking on the topic” Nigeria-Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Imperative Of A Sober And Infinitive Recalibration” ,the legal icon lauded the efforts and consistency of Tinubu for ensuring that Nigeria’s democracy still has room for opposition.”
The foremost Lawyer also urged the National Assembly to stay action on any constitutional amendment for now.
Olanipekun,former chairman ,Body of Benchers, who outlined specific interventions of Tinubu in safeguarding Democracy and Opposition voices said :
“Tinubu not only withstood and survived the PDP Tsunami, he also encouraged opposition figures to come together, ultimately birthing the APC in 2013.
“It is also common knowledge that, as an opposition figure and leader, he supported, empathized and sympathized with members of the ruling party who were facing ‘ persecution ’ under the big Umbrella. But for him, some of the present opposition leaders would have been emasculated or annihilated by their own political parties.
“A case in point was the impeachment of Governor Rasheed Ladoja which was orchestrated by his own political party and leadership; where he (Tinubu) quickly rose to his rescue, gave him the necessary encouragement, support and morale including assemblage of a formidable Legal Team, which eventually led to the setting aside of the impeachment by the Supreme Court; a decision that has over the years served as reprieve for Governors who were/are ordinarily susceptible to legislative and political harassment.
” Even when he was arraigned before the Code of Conduct Tribunal on some criminal charges, he did not blink or panic, rather, he instructed his Legal Team, led by my humble self to apply for service of the Charge on his behalf, before he was formally served, since the news had already filtered to the press and public . Until he was discharged and acquitted, he was physically present at all the proceedings of the Tribunal.
“Unknown to the public and initially unbeknownst to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, but for his intervention in briefing counsel to go and contest the suit sponsored by the PDP challenging the eligibility of Buhari to participate in the 2015 Presidential election, President Muhammadu Buhari might have been disqualified”.
“While section 40 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of association of individuals, I have my serious doubts, if the intendment of that section is to invariably unleash a one-party state on Nigeria at any level, or if the spirit of the Constitution will favour a situation whereby people move en masse from one colony to the other without appreciating what the host colonies have endured or suffered, inter alia. Had Nelson Mandela and others jumped ship from African National Congress (ANC) to join their traducers in the apartheid regime, echoing that they wanted to join the ruling party, the Nationalist Party (NP), South Africa would have still remained under apartheid till today, and Africa would have lost the opportunity of producing a global citizen of the stature of Mandela.”
Insulating his position on Constitution Amendment,Olanipekun proposed a transition period as between now and 2031.
He explained that this phase will give Nigerians ” sufficient time, not only to reflect on the ills plaguing or that have plagued our previous Constitutions to date, but also afford us ample opportunity and time to, amongst other things, assemble all previous efforts made and geared towards constitutional enactment by our representatives, including but not limited to Reports of committees or assemblies set up or constituted to achieve such purpose. Iam also not unaware that the All Progressive Congress (APC) set up the El-Rufai Committee to look into ways and means by which Nigeria should be restructured, and the Committee came up with a very profound submission touching on, among other things, merger of states, derivation principle, devolution of power, fiscal federalism, judiciary, local government autonomy, revenue allocation, citizenship, state police, referendum.
Reinforcing his position,Olanipekun said ;”during the transitional period, the forthcoming elections will still take place and the winners will spend their four years certain, as the case may be; but with an understanding that, come May 29, 2031, Nigeria will operate under a fresh atmosphere; a new Constitution, a new structure, a fresh dawn, an era of renaissance” .
On the issue of national security, Olanipekun said, without prejudice to his earlier submission that the National Assembly should stay action on the amendment to 1999 Constitution, State, Community, Provincial and Zonal police formations should be established now, and without delay.
He commended founder of the University, Afe Babalola SAN, who he said he had known since 1966 as a secondary school student, for his outstanding contributions to uplifting the Nigerian nation, thorough his law prowers, educational emancipation and general developmental efforts.
He urged other privileged Nigerians to emulate the good virtues of the legal giant, so as to turn things around for the country.