Former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Victor Attah, on Friday, said Nigeria needs to draft a new constitution that will be based on conditions unanimously agreed upon by all regions of the country.
Speaking on Channels Television, Attah, who governed Akwa Ibom from 1999 to 2007 noted that the current 1999 Constitution was forced on Nigerians by the military, and insisted that things have been the way they are in the country because Nigerians are being forced to stay together without an agreement of terms to do that.
According to the former Governor, the Nigerian Constitution of 1963 accommodated a true federal system, but that has been abandoned for what he referred to as the authoritarian system in place now.
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There have been a lot of agitations in the country with some regions declaring that they want to secede from Nigeria. However, Attah believes those moves are triggered by frustration because nobody really wants to leave the country.
“So, what we should look at is how do we get back to a state of conditions and terms that will be agreeable to all Nigerians, if we don’t do that, we are wasting time,” Attah said on the programme.
”So, we must not continue to force Nigerians to stay together without first of all allowing them to spell out the terms and conditions under which they want to stay together.”
“For me, what is wrong is the constitution. We do not have a Nigerian constitution Nigerians and the system must change.” Attah stated
