Olisa Agbakoba, a legal expert and constitutional lawyer, has called for the constitutional protection of key institutions, including the police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Independent National Electoral Commission and others.
Mr Agbakoba made the call in a letter addressed to George Akume, the secretary to the government of the federation, on Friday.
In the letter, Mr Agbakoba referenced the Constitution of South Africa, which establishes and protects a range of independent state institutions, insulating them from executive interference.
He noted that by providing security of tenure for the heads of commissions or institutions underpinning constitutional democracy, guaranteeing their funding and making them accountable to the legislature rather than to the president or governors, who may dictate to or manipulate these critical institutions, the agencies would be more effective in carrying out their operations.
Mr Agbakoba stated, “Devolution without institutional protection is reform in name only, and history has shown that where institutions lack genuine constitutional protection, they inevitably become instruments of executive power rather than servants of the people and the Constitution.”
The former president of the Nigerian Bar Association called on stakeholders in Nigeria to embrace the model of limited government, a political principle that holds that executive power is not absolute but is constrained by independent institutions guaranteed by the Constitution.
“Nigeria should adopt this model. Critical institutions such as the Nigeria Police Force, INEC, the EFCC, the ICPC, the CBN, the National Judicial Council, the Attorney General, the Accountant General, the National Human Rights Commission, the Code of Conduct Bureau, and the Office of the Public Defender, which are currently listed under Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution as executive institutions, should be insulated from executive control and established as constitutionally protected institutions that consolidate democracy,” Mr Agbakoba recommended.
He added, “These institutions should enjoy security of tenure, their funding should be a direct charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, and their accountability should be under the supervision of the National Assembly or the State Houses of Assembly and not the president or any governor.”