Nigeria National Workshop on Constitutional Reform

Agenda
Background paper

A workshop on constitutional reform was held in Abuja, Nigeria, 25-28 September, organized by International IDEA in partnership with the Citizens' Forum for Constitutional Reform (CFCR). Around 100 participants representing a wide variety of NGOs and key government decision-makers drawn from each of the 6 Zones (regions) of Nigeria, as well as international experts from regions such as Asia and Southern Africa, attended the workshop. Among the participants were Minister for Justice and Attorney-General Chief Bola Ige, Minister Gerry Gana and Independent National Election Commission (INEC) Chairman Dr Abel Goubadia.

The workshop was an outcome of International IDEA's Assessment Report Democracy in Nigeria: Continuing Dialogue(s) for Nation-Building, which identified constitutional reform as the key issue in the country's democratization agenda. A report will be produced summarising the key constitutional reforms proposed in the workshop and outlining the broader debates on issues of legislative reform.

Constitutional reform is widely understood to be the critical first step to democratization. Over the years Nigeria has had a series of failed constitutions, and the current one was imposed by the previous military regime. In this context the workshop aims to begin a process of focused discussions on constitutional reform itself, with the ultimate goal of helping to achieve ownership and thus legitimacy for the constitution.

"As people in the country will tell you, Nigeria is still predominantly a military society - even in institutions such as universities the culture of militarism is still there. So there is very little 'vertical' dialogue between government and civil society, or adequate 'horizontal' dialogue between civil society organizations themselves, and of course not very much international experience is being shared with Nigerian society. What International IDEA is bringing to the country is all these three key elements - different types of dialogue and comparative international experience - and in Nigeria they are all very much appreciated", says Patrick Molutsi, International IDEA Director of Programmes.

For further information contact:
International IDEA's temporary office in Lagos, Nigeria
37, Kofo Abayomi,
Victoria Island, flat nr. 7
Nigeria
Tel: +234-1-262 4974 (also for faxes)

International IDEA, Strömsborg, 103 34 Stockholm, Sweden
Margot Gould
Tel: +46 8 6983723 Fax: +46 8 202422
E-mail: m.gould@idea.int