Nigeria on the Brink: Falana Warns of Looming Revolution Over Flawed Constitution

Nigeria is sitting on a constitutional time bomb, and according to fiery human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Femi Falana, the only way to defuse it is through a revolution.

In a chilling warning that could shake the foundations of Nigeria’s political stability, Falana declared that the 1999 Constitution — the very document that underpins the country’s governance — is a fraud designed to maintain elite dominance, and can only be dismantled through mass uprising.

Speaking at the National Constitutional Summit in Abuja, Falana didn’t mince words: “The only way you can throw away the 1999 Constitution is through a revolution.” He accused the current political establishment — both the executive and the legislature — of clinging to power through a deceitful constitutional framework that fuels electoral fraud, centralised control, and national stagnation.

“Let’s not deceive ourselves,” Falana warned. “The current system will never allow genuine reform. The National Assembly’s so-called constitutional review is a smokescreen — a stage-managed consultation to pacify a frustrated public.”

A Rigged System Fueling National Crisis

According to Falana, the ongoing constitutional review is not only a farce but a calculated insult to the Nigerian people. He revealed that a recent “consultation” in Lagos lasted only two hours for the entire South-West, effectively excluding the masses from a process that determines their future.

“In spite of poverty and insecurity, you expect citizens from six states to travel to Lagos just to be heard for two hours? This is not consultation — it’s a deliberate exclusion,” he said.

Even more damning is Falana’s accusation that the National Assembly is expanding the powers of the centre, in direct opposition to the popular demand for true federalism. He pointed to the recent creation of “federal guards” instead of supporting state police, warning that the central government is tightening its grip on power — even in places it has no constitutional jurisdiction.

“The federal government has no land outside Abuja. But you want to police my state? That is tyranny,” he thundered.

Falana exposed a disturbing alliance between the National Assembly and the judiciary to undermine electoral transparency and preserve a corrupt status quo. He accused legislators of deliberately resisting reforms like electronic voting and result transmission to keep elections riggable and unreliable.

“They don’t want reforms because the current system allows them to manipulate the accreditation of voters. That’s the truth,” Falana said.

“The courts are worse. The Supreme Court has ruled against card readers and BVAS. Today, judges, not voters, decide elections in Nigeria.”

Falana’s chilling verdict is clear: Nigeria will not survive on this constitution. And unless citizens rise to demand a new people’s constitution, the alternative may be violent and catastrophic.

His words sound like a call to arms — not for violence, but for urgent civic uprising against a system he claims is broken beyond repair. The risk of ignoring this call, he warns, is too great.

“What we are doing here, they call it time-wasting. But what they don’t realise is that this time-wasting will one day ignite the fire they can’t put out.”

With the 2023 elections widely seen as flawed and the 1999 Constitution still anchoring a centralised, corrupt political structure, Falana’s message is stark and dangerous: Nigeria is at a tipping point. Without radical change, the nation risks descent into uncontrollable chaos — or revolution.

If his warning is prophetic, Nigerians may soon face a defining question: Do we continue to live under a fraudulent constitution — or do we rise to build a new one for a just and democratic future?

The time to choose is now.