Lagos — Elder statesman, Chief Anthony Enahoro, wife of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Hajia Mujaheedat Dokubo Asari, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike and three others have requested an Abuja High Court to issue an order stopping the National Assembly from amending the 1999 Constitution.
They are contending that they had already filed a suit that would take care of the amendment.
But the court is scheduled to rule today on a preliminary objection filed by the Federal Government challenging their locus standi to sue over the legality of the 1999 constitution in the first instance.
If the ruling is against them, the live issue in their suit and the essence of their present application to stop the National Assembly from amending the constitution would become irrelevant, academic and useless.
In the parent suit filed by them, they were asking the court to decide whether the present constitution was actually drafted and agreed upon by the people of Nigeria themselves or was foisted on them by the military.
Other plaintiffs in the suit are Chief C.C. Onoh, Bishop Bolande Gbonigi and Alhaji Yerima Usman Shettima.
The defendants are the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Clerk of the National Assembly and the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The Plaintiffs are specifically praying the court for 'a declaration that the review or amendment of the 1999 constitution being initiated' by the Clerk of the National Assembly and the President of the Senate directly touches on the subject matter of this suit and, therefore, is likely to affect the outcome in a manner prejudicial to the case of the plaintiffs.
They are also seeking for an order of injunction restraining the defendants from tampering with the subject matter of this suit, by way of amendment or review, until the final disposition of this case by the court.
The plaintiffs through their lawyer, Tony Nnadi revealed in a six paragraph affidavit deposed to by Yerima Usman Shettima that the Senate president had constituted a 36 man Senate Committee headed by his Deputy for the exercise while the Speaker of the House of Representatives has empanelled a 36 man Committee in the Lower House for the same amendment/review.
The court had earlier granted joinder application of Leader of Movement for Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra [MASSOB], Chief Ralph Uwazurike as the 6 th plaintiff in a suit filed by Peoples' National Conference against the federal government.
The Group led by Elder Statesman Chief Anthony Enaharo, Chief C.C. Onoh, Wife of Leader, Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force [NDPVF], Mujaheedat Dokubo Asari and several others had gone to court demanding that the court should decide whether actually the present constitution of the country
was drafted and agreed upon by the people themselves.
The group had contended that the 1999 Constitution was drafted by the Military and put to use by former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar whom they quoted only stated that he had gone
through the I999 Constitution and removed what is bad and added what is good.
Besides, the court has fixed June 26 to rule on motion brought by the Attorney General of the Federation [AGF] challenging the locus standi of the complainants.
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From a legal point of view, the question that the plantiff is raising is in the right direction. We need to determine whether or not the 1999 Constitution actually represents what it says when it begins with the phrase, "We the Nigerian people...," before we start thinking of amending it. However the case may be decided, the question itself has locus standi.
Every constitution has an inbuilt procedure for its ammendment,and our own is not different.If people have pointed out certain flaws in the 1999 constitution by all means let us follow the procedure.It is not a matter for litigation in the court.I am expecting such things as the creation of the house of chiefs in the states to have bi-cameral legislatures,and the entrenchment of two party system,revision of our electoral system .On no account should the four year term for the president be changed.It is like that in England, USA,and most of the stable democrecies from where we borrowed our model.