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The crisis rocking NASS is a pointer to the necessity for Constitutional Reforms without which the Changes proposed by the APC would not see the light of day as many of the issues embedded in the Changes are of a Constitutional nature. It is therefore not unexpected that the battle being waged in NASS is taking place within the context of the economic downturn being experienced in Nigeria where the APC is determined to put in place measures that would cause a fundamental change, such change being an attempt at realizing the expectations of the Nigerian people.
The purveyors of the anti-Change battle, expressed in the form of disobedience to Party directives, are not unaware of this impending solution but are simply impervious to it as the battle is being waged purposely to maintain the status quo and render any possibilities of change possible. The APC is thus embroiled in a double take of having to engage itself in countering the attacks, in the pan-Nigerian sense while also maintaining its commitment to its own Manifesto of Change, otherwise it will simply become immersed in unnecessary power struggles with such struggle being an end in itself; albeit creating an illusion of having to create the necessary institutional space for the implementation of such Changes.
In both cases, a relentless determination by these opponents of Change becomes an on-going characteristic, going for the jugular by not only attempting to take over the NASS with the expectation of having the APC Presidency and its politics of Change under threat, but also trying to cause disaffection and distraction among the general populace based on the current economic malaise of which the PDP Governments are the main beneficiaries.
Yet, the APC can be said to be the most cohesive platform embracing progressive tendencies in the country’s politics, the neutralization of which will not only decimate the APC but also the entire progressive political enterprise in Nigeria.
For Yorubaland, two definite goals are obvious from these opponents: (1) Maintaining the status quo of power relations at the Center based on the retention of current economic paradigms thus resisting the economic and political changes to be manifested through the proposed “leaner” government and (2) Alienating the APC from the rest of Yorubaland(SW) as being a “foreign”, Lagos-based “invasion” of the rest of Yorubaland, a tactic previously employed in the 2012 Ondo State Gubernatorial election, where, now, the emergence of the renegade Lasun Yussuf from Osun State as the deputy Speaker is being hailed by these opposition as being good for Yorubaland because “Lagos was denied the slot” . This most invidious sentiment being promoted by the opposition in Yorubaland must be vigorously combatted, especially now that the next Ondo Governorship election is coming up in a short while where the current Ondo Governor is the beneficiary of such a mantra as well as the leader of this opposition in Yorubaland.
In historical terms, the APC(National), in its entirety, and in consonance with its promotion of change as its major political and economic objective, has taken upon itself the task of effecting the necessary Changes, albeit within the context of extant political institutions, notably the NASS, which ordinarily ought to be the testing ground for all the Changes proposed by the APC. This approach is now being negated by the opposition relying not only on the resistance to the Changes but actually waving the perks and patronages associated with the extant situation as its end goal.
It is therefore imperative for the APC(National) to develop appropriate responses in line with the peoples’ expectations as well as its own values of Change that will enlist the support of the various Peoples of Nigeria, especially when the Peoples are faced with such enormous economic and political challenges such that an Alternative economic and political proposition will constitute the main battle line with the opposition. In other words, the Narrative must be Changed in order to reflect the Expectations of Change.
To bring about the above, there is the necessity for contextualization within Nigeria’s current economic mess and the demands of a leaner Government being advocated by the APC, which will also address, directly or indirectly, issues about representation; as in whether Federating Units can determine their own limits on National/Federal representation and remuneration, an issue now exposed through the jumbo pay being enjoyed by these legislators which will, ipso facto, delve into leadership/remuneration issues bedeviling the NASS; issues of discipline, whether by a political party or the Federating Unit concerned hence the necessity or otherwise of retaining the current political structure all of which form the foundation of our expectations of Change. In short, this expectation challenges the continuity of the present political edifice in its current form which is the fundamental issue in this process of Change.
For the SW/Yorubaland, this will formally challenge, headlong, the “Lagos Invasion” mantra within the Yoruba political and Cultural context as well as the opposition’s proposition being promoted by the surreptitious introduction of Jonathan’s Conference recommendations which only aims at more “statification” of the country in tandem with the “Lagos Invasion” narrative; where, for example, states currently under economic stress will be expected to create a “State police” to be funded with currently scarce funds.
“ooduapathfinder” says that the APC has been handed a golden opportunity to up the ante in order to effect its own Changes by the antics of the opposition in collaboration with the renegades within the Party and whose basis is the 16-year rule of the PDP culminating in the total collapse of the economy witnessed under the last PDP regime. Political morality demands that the opposition must be denied its own expectations which are based simply on power for its own sake; for the end result of the NASS imbroglio is power and its all of its accoutrements, and for its own sake. Whereas the economic paradigms in APC states have occurred within the limitations imposed by the current structure, which, by and large, have sustained the people’s expectations.
To effect this, “ooduapathfinder” says the APC should commence a process where the will of the Peoples are formally expressed beyond the Party’s Constitution, through the instrumentality of the country’s Constitution. Whereas, the current Constitution is supposed to be amended only by a top-down process where it is initiated by and through NASS, and whereas the same NASS has become the problem and an albatross on the Peoples, the APC will be on good grounds to initiate such a Constitutional Amendment process from and through the States and by way of Executive Action through the State and Federal Executives. A Constitution, being the Grundnorm, can only be legitimate if it reflects, in totality, the will of the Peoples. It will not be impossible for the APC to get the required number of States to effect this Amendment, even if the NASS leadership as currently being constituted is against it. Such a leadership cannot override the two thirds of the States and therefore the Peoples that would sign up for such and confirmed in a Referendum of the Peoples which NASS and its renegade leadership has no control over.
The generality of the Nigerian Peoples are currently at war with the NASS, in general and the APC will be concretizing its own Change by changing the way, manner of existence and operation of NASS to the advantage of the Peoples. Our expectations of Change demand and deserve no less.

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