Abdulsalami Explains Why the 1979 Constitution Was Re-adopted in 1999

Former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.), said the 1979 Constitution was adopted with amendments in 1999 to prevent military “hawks’’ from stalling Nigeria’s return to democracy after the death of General Sani Abacha.

In his autobiography, Call of Duty, he wrote of how some officers wanted a long transition that could have kept the military in power for years under the guise of writing a new constitution.

He said he made it his priority to get out of military rule quickly after he took office on June 8, 1998, after the death of Abacha.
“I thought that the longer the Military stayed in power after Abacha’s death, the more unlikely a credible transition to democracy would be,” he said.

Some of the military officers had tasted political power and were not too willing to give it up. “If I prolong the transition programme under the desire to have a perfect democracy with a perfect Constitution, I would be only giving space to the hawks in the Military to hang on to power.

He said: “I could not even rule out the possibility of a coup along the line by officers who did not want the Military to quit. For me the earlier we left the better for the democratisation project.

Abdulsalami said one option was to start the transition all over again, which could have prolonged military rule until 2001.

“This was the choice of those who wanted the Military to remain longer. It would give us time by allowing a public debate for one year, creating a conference that would sit for another one year to write a new constitution and then releasing a timetable that would run for another year,” he said.
But he rejected the option, saying there was no “perfect” moment for democracy.

“Democracy is not made in a day. “Plant the seed and if the players are willing to water it, it will continue to grow.”

He also rejected the continued use of Abacha’s transition plan, saying the political parties lacked credibility.

“The five political parties, which the late Chief Bola Ige famously described as the ‘five fingers of a leprous hand’, had no credibility. “They were seen as toys in the hands of Abacha,” he said.

A proposal for an interim government was also rejected following the collapse of a similar arrangement in 1993.

On constitutional choice, Abdulsalami said a 25-member committee headed by Justice Niki Tobi recommended retention of the 1979 Constitution with amendments instead of the 1995 draft.

“I must confess, this was a welcome relief to me,” he said.

“For someone who wanted to get the transition programme done with as quickly as possible, I was quite comfortable with adopting the 1979 Constitution.”