Abuse of constitution, reason democracy fails

From Okwe Obi, Abuja

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has claimed that fragrant abuse of the country’s constitution is responsible for the failure of democracy.

The electoral empire specifically finger the country’s president since 1999 as main abusers of the Constitution.

Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Benue State, Prof. Sam Egwu, stated this yesterday at the National Conference on the Future of Democracy in Nigeria. The confab with the theme: ‘Sustaining democratic growth beyond the polls for effective governance” put together by the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA) held in Abuja, yesterday.

According to the former Ebonyi State governor, successive administrations have governed in breach of the constitution while pursuing liberal economic policies dictated by global financial institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), often to the detriment of Nigerians.

“I argue that we need to continue to pursue a real democratisation agenda and go back to obey the constitution. If you read the 1999 constitution, which is lifted from the 1979 constitution, chapter two commits to the doctrine of democracy, because it talks about the responsibility of government in terms of the welfare of citizens.

“It talks about the responsibilities to citizens in terms of health and education. All the presidents that have come since 1999 never obey the constitution.

“The 1999 Constitution commits Nigeria to a social democracy. What they have been doing is in breach of the constitution. They have advanced liberal economic policies that contradict its core provisions on social welfare, health, and education.”

He argued that excessive centralisation of power in the executive has undermined Nigeria’s federal system, adding that this has left local governments powerless and disconnected from citizens.

While faulting the influence of international financial bodies on Nigeria’s economic direction, he complained that the nation’s domestic policy space has been hijacked by the World Bank and IMF.

Egwu, who urged a rethink of Nigeria’s democracy, said civil society remains the true “hero of the nation’s democratic journey but is currently weakened by lack of membership structure and dwindling funding.”

He advocated absolute transformation of local government administration into a system that directly connects authorities with citizens to decide development priorities.

PAACA Executive Director, Ezenwa Nwagwu, said the conference was convened to push democratic reforms to strengthen governance institutions.

Nwagwu said that PAACA had been working across 19 states to bridge the gap between policy and citizens through advocacy and civic engagement.

“Democratic reforms must not be episodic or elite-driven. They must be citizen-centred, inclusive and enduring.”