Ohanaeze Ndigbo demands immediate Sovereign National Conference for Nigeria
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, through its factional President‑General Chief Omenazu Jackson, issued a statement on Wednesday (July 23, 2026) demanding the immediate convocation of a Sovereign National Conference to craft a constitution that truly reflects the will of the Nigerian people. The group noted that every Nigerian constitution since the colonial Clifford Constitution of 1922—through the Richards, Macpherson and Lyttleton constitutions, the Independence and Republican charters of 1960 and 1963, the 1979 and aborted 1989 experiments, and the current 1999 charter—was crafted by colonial powers or military regimes, not by a sovereign constituent process.
Why this matters: Ohanaeze argues that the lack of a people‑made constitution underlies persistent national crises—disputes over federalism, resource control, state police, electoral reform, fiscal justice and national cohesion. A Sovereign National Conference, with each ethnic nationality nominating and funding its own delegates free of government interference, would produce a charter that becomes supreme law, offering a potential path to lasting peace and unity.
What to know/do: The group urged the Federal Government, National Assembly, traditional rulers and civil society to back the call, insisting on equal representation for all ethnic groups regardless of population size and that the conference’s resolutions be immune to amendment, rejection or interference by any arm of government. Readers should weigh whether a people‑driven constitutional process could resolve Nigeria’s longstanding governance challenges and consider how they might support or engage with such an initiative.