A former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN)
A former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), on Monday advocated for a new Nigeria’s governance system through a new constitution and genuine fiscal federalism.
He said, such reforms would aid the country move towards prosperity.
Agbakoba made the disclosure while addressing journalists in Lagos during the presentation of his new policy paper titled “Devolution is the solution: Foundational Reform Agenda for Nigeria’s transformation.”
The legal luminary argued that the current 1999 constitution, imposed by the military, is a “cracked foundation” incapable of supporting true federalism or economic growth.
He described Nigeria’s governance as a “unitary federation”, noting that while the federal structure controls 97 per cent of national revenues, 90 per cent of governance responsibilities, including 774 local governments and 35 of 36 states, depend entirely on federal transfers.
“No amount of economic fine-tuning can succeed within such a centralised structure,” Agbakoba said.
He maintained that President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, including subsidy removal and exchange rate liberalisation, are technically sound but are trapped in a dysfunctional political system.
“You cannot fix economic problems with economic solutions when the root cause is political. Twenty-five years of constitutional amendments have failed because you cannot amend your way out of a flawed foundation,” he warned.
Agbakoba proposed a new constitution based on popular sovereignty, fiscal autonomy, and devolution of powers.
Fiscal federalism, he said, is essential for national balance and economic growth.
He stressed that economic growth depends on empowering states and local governments to drive development, arguing that “economic reform without political restructuring produces technically correct policies trapped in dysfunctional structures.”
Agbakoba projected that with proper devolution, Nigeria could achieve 10–12 per cent annual GDP growth and a N500 trillion national budget within a decade.
He concluded that Nigeria could enter a “golden age” within five years if these reforms are implemented, achieving a 500tn budget and creating a 100-million-strong middle class.
