Agbakoba urges Jonathan to pursue constitutional reforms

By Innocent Anaba
Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, Tuesday, charged President Goodluck Jonathan to be courageous enough to pursue constitutional reforms that would transform the country.

He also said the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was right to order a supplementary election for Imo State, as the Constitution says that elections must be “held” within a stipulated time but was silent on when it should be concluded.

Addressing newsmen on the just concluded general elections in Lagos, Agbakoba said: “The President is in a better position to drive the constitutional amendment process because he drives the entire process in the country as the President

“We need a President that should be able to address all issues effecting every aspect of the society, be the judiciary, legislative, executive or economy reforms. We need the President to be able to address the big issues confronting the country, because when such big issues are addressed, every other thing falls into place,” he said.

He further said electoral offences, political party regulation, constituency review, among others, should be handled by new agencies in order to unbundle INEC and leave it to concentrate on votes counting.

He also called for the  EFCC and ICPC to be unbundled for efficiency.