Why 1999 Constitution Is A Problem To 2023 Election – Afe Babalola Reveals

The 1999 Constitution will not ensure the election of trustworthy leaders in the general elections in February, according to Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Afe Babalola.

At a news conference on Wednesday in the capital of Ekiti, Ado-Ekiti, the owner of Afe Babalola University, said “unless a new Constitution similar to those of 1960 and 1963 Constitutions, with necessary amendments, is put in place, none of the aspirants, and indeed no angel can save Nigeria from total collapse.”

While reacting to Olusegun Obasanjo’s adoption of Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s (LP) presidential candidate, Afe Babalola said only a moneybag and not the most qualified contenders could win the February presidential election based on the 1999 constitutional structure.

He said that former President Obasanjo’s adoption of the LP presidential candidate was his right of expression and possibly be related to the contestant’s well-known, spotless record of morality and solid education.

He emphasized that Obasanjo’s vision for a change agent and developmental leader was not adequately realized by the 1999 Constitution because it was too unfair and flawed.

“The 1999 Constitution“, he continued, “was not what Nigeria needed right now”.

“On April 18, 2022, I urged the Federal Government to suspend the 2023 general elections and to raise an interim government of six months that will fashion out a new Constitution for the country“, Afe Babalola said.

“I still stand by my suggestion that any election conducted under the 1999 Constitution cannot, and will not produce new leaders with new ideas.

“Any election conducted under the 1999 Constitution will merely result in recycling the same people who brought Nigeria to grinding poverty, mass unemployment, underfunded education, insecurity, and huge external debts“.

Speaking further on how flawed the 1999 Constitution is, the university proprietor added: “I am an elder statesman, a SAN, the highest taxpayer in old Ondo State, the highest taxpayer in present Ekiti, owner of the best private university in Nigeria and many more.

“If I contest for political office today, I will fail, not because I am not qualified, but because the system will make me not to win.

“I have no sympathy for any Nigerian aspiring to rule Nigeria in any form, whether as a legislator, governor, or president.

“The fact remains that the 1999 Constitution on a large scale is the root cause of economic, social, political, and religious problems in the country today.

“Our experience since 1999 has taught us that we are in urgent need of a new Constitution.

“The new Constitution should provide for stringent conditions in respect of age, academic qualifications, character and personality, as well as the family background of candidates, especially for the presidency and the National Assembly.”