President Bola Tinubu has been encouraged by the National Democratic Coalition, or NADECO, to reinstate the Republican Constitution in Nigeria.
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Tinubu is a part of the group established during the 1993 presidential election, which the late Moshood Abiola won but which Ibrahim Babangida, a previous head of state, later declared invalid.
In a letter to the president, Chief Ayo Opadokun, the president’s spokesman, claimed that the 1963 Constitution protected true federalism and peaceful coexistence.
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The group emphasized that because the military illegally suspended, revoked, and changed an independent constitution, Nigeria continues to be “a country, not a nation.”
The Republican Constitution, according to NADECO, would bring back a responsive government and show how to rebuild a system that has been taken over by “politicians in military uniform since January 15, 1966.”
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The All Progressives Congress, or APC, established the Governor El-Rufai Committee, which made the case for a return to federal constitutional government, and Tinubu was reminded of this.
Complete letter text:
“NADECO hereby officially expresses its congratulations on your taking the oath of office, being sworn in, and becoming president of Nigeria. The democratic rights of your rivals, who are challenging your victory before the electoral tribunal, are unaffected by this.
NADECO is pleased that one of its most notable leaders, who in fact made a significant contribution to the enormous democratic struggle and campaign the organization had to launch on behalf of Nigerians to restore democracy to the country, has by divine providence become the elected President of the nation of our ancestry.
We would want to bring to your attention the main demand of our just and shared struggle, which was the urgent requirement to reinstate federal constitutional government in Nigeria, the foundation upon which we were able to gain our independence.
Because the military truncated, illegally suspended, abrogated, and replaced our negotiated independent constitution with the Unitary Constitution, Nigeria has remained a country rather than a nation up to this point.
The carefully choreographed Constitutions of 1979 and 1999, which preserved all the severe harms that succeeding military administrations forced upon Nigeria, continue to be the source of that country’s backwardness, stunted progress, and intolerable degree of poverty.
NADECO is adamant that, as we work to rebuild a nation that has been repeatedly invaded and harmed since January 15, 1966 for the narrow personal interests of politicians dressed in uniform, a return to the Independence/Republican Constitution will restore responsive and responsible government to the bare minimum.
The numerous political, legal, and institutional abnormalities that Nigeria’s several military dictators whimpishly imposed can then be tactically fixed over time. The Patriots who experienced privations, dehumanization, and hounding alongside us while we confronted the forces that imposed themselves on us included you, Mr. President.
Fortunately, the Governor El-Rufai Committee was constituted by your own party, and it made the recommendation that the APC administration promptly carry out the pledge it made in your manifesto to put Nigeria back under federal constitutional rule. All that we are asking of you is that you commit to upholding the pledge that led to your party’s election to office by using your good offices.
In order to fulfill Nigeria’s manifest destiny of providing leadership to the black race, which is looking up to us to take our rightful place in the global diplomatic leadership, and to demonstrate that black civilization is consequential and important as the others for the growth and advancement of humanity, NADECO, speaking on behalf of the silent majority of Nigerians, expects you to do so.
We ask the good Lord to give you good health, compassion, and divine wisdom so that you can lead our people, who have suffered from unbelievable economic exploitation, neglect, and poverty in a nation like Nigeria with a wealth of human and natural resources, in a way that is unprecedentedly productive and impactful.