Throw Away 1999 Constitution, Embrace 1960’s, Bisi Akande Tells NASS

Former National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande, has urged the National Assembly members to adopt the 1960 Constitution for Nigeria to move forward.

Akande advised the federal lawmakers to dump the 1999 Constitution written by the military leaders for the country to work.

The former governor of Osun State made this known while fielding questions from journalists on Saturday ahead of his 85th birthday ceremony.

The APC chieftain said the restructuring of the country does not require much other than dumping the 1999 constitution.

He said the 1999 constitution was not written by anybody hence National Assembly must retrace its steps on the constitution.

Akande said, “I will prefer the 1960 constitution for Nigeria, it is the best! For example, in the 1960 constitution, if you are a member of the national and state assembly, you are a part time, you go to your work, politics wasn’t work then.

“Farmers go to the farm, lawyers go to their chambers, doctors go to their hospitals… and when it is time for a meeting they go to a meeting and they pay them a sitting allowance, everybody knows that they are doing it in the interest of the public.”

He decried that the military changed the practice by introducing money and lavish spending into politics which are not helping the country.

“The military, because they wanted to stay permanently in power, they started using money to pay them (assembly) salary and everybody left their job to become a politician,” he stated.

“You leave your job where you all belong, then you become a politician, you have nothing to do, nothing to produce, then you want to be materialistic. You become fake because you have departed from good things to bad.

He warned that, “Until you retrace your steps back, you can’t have it well. If you are talking about restructuring, you don’t need much, throw away this present constitution which is not written by anybody and embrace 1960 constitution, look at present day realities to adjust it.”