A Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Chief Wole Olanipekun, has revealed how former President Olusegun Obasanjo almost punched him for tasking him to amend the 1999 constitution, News About Nigeria reports.
According to him, Obasanjo was so furious about the demand that he vehemently refused to buy into any changes in the constitution.
Olanipekun, who said this in a convocation lecture he delivered at the Olabisi Onabanjo University in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, stated that the constitution is a fake document that needs to be amended.
Olanipekun further alleged that the majority of the challenges bedevilling the nation are a result of the porousness of the 1999 Constitution.
He further stated that, as a lawyer, he knows that the Constitution is fake but is left with no choice but to practice it because it is the acceptable law guiding the nation.
Speaking further, he stated that, regardless of the porousness of the Constitution, judges and lawyers are left with no choice but to follow it even if it is not the law as it should be.
Olanipekun therefore called for an amendment of the 1999 constitution because the nation needs a constitution that is more oriented towards the people.
Speaking on the amendment, he charged President Bola Tinubu to look into the demand, as it will go a long way in helping the nation.
In his own words, “We need a constitution with a humane face. I’m a lawyer, but we are deceiving ourselves; our constitution is fake and I have said this over and over.”
The SAN also noted that the constitution needs to be changed because if it is not, many young persons who know the lapses and are abroad would not return to the country.
