WAEC Government 2020 Theory — Question 9

Model answer

The 1999 constitution was a constitution that was drafted by the departing military regime of Abdulsalami Abubakar; thus, the constitution is fraught with many weaknesses which include (any five): (i) Too much powers given to the Federal Government. (ii) Citizenship/indigenship crises. The 1999 constitution failed to differentiate between a citizen and an indigene as well as highlighting their roles and privileges. (iii) The system of local government, administration, funding and autonomy. The 1999 constitution has an ambiguous provision for the existence of local government. For instance, while the constitution recognizes the right of state government to establish local governments areas, the creation of these new local government must also be approved by the National Assembly. (iv) Revenue and fiscal allocation. (v) Land reforms and state creation. (vi) The Electoral system. (vii) Rotation of power. The 1999 constitution does not provide for the rotation of political power/offices among the different groups that constitute the Nigerian federation. (viii) Federalist feature of the constitution in relation to certain sensitive national issues. (ix) Ambiguous Provisions: Some of the provisions of the 1999 constitution are ambiguous and contradictory. For example, in the appointment of the chairman of INEC, the constitution states that the person to be appointed must fulfill the requirement of a member of the House of Representatives. This provision is contradictory because to be eligible to contest into the House of Representatives, an individual must be a member of a political party, whereas the chairman of INEC is expected to be independent and non-partisan! (x) Protection for special interests. (xi) It does not take into account Nigeria's special history. (xii) The provision for presidential system is too costly and expensive to run. (xiii) The rigid nature of the constitution. (xiv) No provision for the role of the Deputy Governors. Under the 1999 constitution, Deputy Governors are not assigned any constitutional roles but they only serve at the pleasure of their Governors and this has caused so many crises between some governors and their deputies. (xv) The power of veto in the constitution can create room for the president to be autocratic or tyrannical.