Daily Independent Online.
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Wednesday, July 07, 2004.
National conference inevitable, says Akinjide
By Habib Aruna
Assistant Political
Editor, Lagos
Foremost politician
and legal icon, Chief Richard Akinjide has joined the ranks of the advocates of
national conference to discuss the future of the country, differing, however,
that the conference should not be sovereign.
In an exclusive
interview with Daily Independent at the weekend, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria
(SAN) warned of a grave crisis that may follow a sovereign national conference.
He said that a roundtable talks could only be postponed but inevitable.
“A national
conference is inevitable”, he said, adding: “You cannot change the mechanics of historical
changes, and Nigeria, till now, has been moving on. Amalgamation was in 1914
and we’ve always been having a regular appraisal of our circumstances. So
you cannot stop a national conference, nobody can stop it.”
Akinjide explained
that even during the colonial days, the British could not stop many conferences
that were held prior to the country’s independence. He said it is beyond
the interest of individuals or whether some people like it or not.
“In the colonial days, it could
not be stopped. After
independence, we had Independence Constitution, Republican Constitution; we had
parliamentary system, we had presidential system. So you cannot turn back the
mechanic of historical changes. It is not whether somebody likes it or not.
“It is just
inevitable, but I am not an advocate of a sovereign national conference. I am
asking for national conference because sovereign national conference has
political and constitutional implications, which many people don’t
understand, but national conference, yes! We can’t stop it either now or
later,” he stressed.
Akinjide, who was
the Attorney General of the Federation in the Second Republic, also cautioned
on the fragmentation of the existing political parties, saying, however, that
unviable and unfocused parties are not good for the system.
He said the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) should be careful not to tamper with the
fundamental rights of the people, which, according to him, are inalienable.
“Having said
that, we must make the system manageable. We can’t create a system where
husband and wife form political parties. We must maintain a manageable balance.
The INEC should
have the power to deregister parties that are no longer viable or functioning,”
he said.
He stressed that
democracy might not be the best form of government, but that human beings have
not been able to invent anything better.
“So we are
struck with the democratic system of government. I am a democrat and I support
it and until we are able to invent something better, we should live with
democracy,” Akinjide counselled.
Commenting on the
much criticised April council elections, Akinjide said Nigerians are not good
losers, adding that those who lost will always say it was rigged and those who
won will say its was not rigged. The truth, according to him, is that there is
election petitions system where a contestant can go to challenge the outcome of
election.
