John Alechenu and Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja
The National Chairman of the All Progressives
Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has said the
nation is running a bastardised federal structure.
He, therefore, said there was the need to revisit the dysfunctional structure in order to change the
narrative and ensure that the structure work
efficiently for the benefit of all Nigerians.
Also, the Chairman of the APC’s Committee on True
Federalism, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, has said elections
should not detract leaders from the task of nation
building.
They spoke at the public presentation of the
committee’s report, in Abuja, on Wednesday.
Odigie-Oyegun said, “There is no question that where
we
are today is a bastardised federal structure –
more or less a unitary system. What we are going to
present to you today is the considered view of the
majority of Nigerians.”
Odigie-Oyegun explained that contrary to the earlier
perception in some quarters that the party had
abandoned its promise to restructure the country, it
was busy trying to fix the nation’s economy first.
He said, “We didn’t think restructuring was an
immediate thing. We were faced with an economic
crisis; we had to find a new economic reality. We
thought it was necessary to lay the foundation of an
effective railway system, fix roads and power (first)
before proceeding.”
In response to agitations by labour unions about the
panel’s recommendation for local government
autonomy, the party chairman said, “We are not
abolishing the local government system. What we
are saying is that all local governments should be
truly local to reflect the peculiarities of the various
states.
El-Rufai, who is also the governor of Kaduna State,
spoke through his Special Adviser (Political), Mallam
Uba Sani.
According to him, since the committee submitted its
findings and recommendations to the National
Working Committee of the party six days ago, the
feedback from Nigerians had been largely positive.
El-Rufai said, “Thus far, we have not heard rebuttals
of the recommendations. Rather, there has been a lot
of hysteria triggered by seeming disbelief that a party
in power at the centre is proposing true federalism.
“In place of a counter-narrative or alternative position
on federalism, what we hear is that the
recommendations are coming close to elections.
“If something is desirable, surely the imminence of
elections should not render it unappealing. The reality
is that restructuring is a nation-building opportunity.
“There is now no significant constituency against the
idea that states should exercise consequential
powers, assume more responsibilities and control
resources. It is time to make it work for the benefit
of the peoples of this country.”
Also speaking at the event, a former Minister of
Information, Prince Tony Momoh, stressed the need
for the party to engage with the President in order to
muster the political will to ensure that the panel’s
recommendations do not go the way of previous
reports of national conferences.
A member of the APC panel, who is also a former
Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Aisha Ismail, said
one thing was clear, all Nigerians want a better and
greater Nigerian “where there will be justice, a
Nigeria where things work.”
She pointed out that she was particularly delighted
by the recommendation that affirmative action for
women should be given a pride of place in the new
Nigeria the APC was seeking to build.
The Secretary of the committee, Senator Olubunmi
Adetumbi, said the committee had no opinion of its
own but that the panel’s findings and
recommendations were based on the outcome of its
public engagements with Nigerians.
But the People Democratic Party said the APC had no
desire to restructure Nigeria, adding that El-Rufai who
was eventually drafted to head the APC panel had
on June 29, 2017, during an interview on Channels TV,
denied that the APC promised restructuring.
The PDP’s position was contained in a statement
signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola
Ologbodiyan.
The opposition PDP dismissed the APC report as “a
ruse and a fresh attempt to beguile Nigerians with
another round of lies, empty proposals and hollow
promises, ahead of 2019 elections, just as it did in
2015.”
The party also said the report was a calculated ploy
by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government
to divert public attention from the woes of alleged
worsening economy, unrelenting killings, corruption
and the endless litany of afflictions occasioned by
their almost three years of dysfunctional governance.

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