The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has shown no commitment to the clamour by Nigerians for restructuring in the country which is considered the only option to solve its multifaceted developmental and security problems.
The party has also failed to act on or transmit the report of its Restructuring Committee, Chaired by the Governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed El-Rufai to the National Assembly for inclusion in Constitutional review after three years.
BusinessDay SUNDAY investigations show that though the Committee headed by El-Rufai had submitted its report to the APC leadership since January 25, 2018, the party has since then not put any mechanism in place to implement or transmit same to the National Assembly which has already embarked on another Constitutional review exercise.
This is also in contravention of Article 7 of the APC Constitution which commits the party to promote and foster the unity, political stability and national consciousness of the people of Nigeria, and to promote true federalism in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The report made key recommendations concerning resource control, making local government an affair of states, constitutional amendment to allow merger of states, state police, state court of appeal and independent candidacy.
El-Rufai while presenting the report had said: “We articulated only 13 issues from the various opinions expressed by Nigerians in our engagement, identified these 24 issues for which the committee deliberated and has made recommendations in the report.
“We went ahead to look at these recommendations to convert them into concrete actions that the party, government and the National Assembly can take to re-balance our federation.”
The 13 items articulated by the Committee were as follows: Merger of states; Delegation principle; Fiscal federalism; Devolution of power; Food and Drugs; Fingerprint identification of criminals; Registration of business names, and Labour matters.
Others are: Mines and minerals; The police; Prisons; Public holiday; Stamp duties; Independent candidacy; Local government; Revenue allocation; Citizenship; Ministerial appointment; Judiciary, and Referendum.
While speaking at the last year’s Economic Summit (#NES 26) in Abuja, El-Rufai said the current leadership of the National Assembly was committed to implementing the report, adding that President Muhammadu Buhari was committed to accenting to any amendments that come before him given that the current federal system of government was not working.
“The assurance I can give Nigerians is that the President fully supports the restructuring reforms. The leadership of the National Assembly is fully on board. There is alignment between the executive and judiciary. Both leaders in the two Houses are working on it,” he said.
But an official of the party who would not want to be mentioned reliably told BusinessDay that the report was not sent to the National Assembly Committees on Constitutional Review Chaired by the Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege and Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase.
He said the Governor Mai-Mala Buni-led Caretaker Leadership of the party was too preoccupied with the forthcoming Membership registration/revalidation and the June National elective convention that, “it cannot delve into the restructuring report not attended to by former National Chairmen of APC, John Odigie-Oyegun and Adams Oshiomhole”.
Analysts told our Correspondent that the failure of APC to act on the report, let alone transmitting it to the National Assembly is a confirmation of the party’s disdain for restructuring which featured prominently in its campaign ahead of the 2015 general election.
Christian Okeke, a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science, Nnandi Azikiwe University Awka asserted that with such indolence by APC, it shows that the party is not bothered about the agitations for restructuring which was one of its campaign promises.
He argued that: “The failure to carry through the restructuring mantra did not come as a surprise to many. Many promises are not yet kept by the party even as the disconnect between the government and the governed is widening by the day.
“Of course, many today do not believe that the party is sincere with the restructuring of a thing and thus do not expect anything positive in that regard. That is the sad narrative which well-meaning Nigerians will have to live with, at least till 2023.”
“So, in simple words, the party and its domineering elite members are committed to no restructuring. Otherwise, their action would have spoken louder than their voice in that regard,” Okeke further observed.
Georgina Dakpokpo, National Chairman of the deregistered Young Democratic Party (YDP), observed that APC came into power with promises that are not fulfilled such as restructuring.
She said: “If they don’t abide by the recommendations of a Committee they set up that shows that there is no consistency in the party. I think now more than ever, there is need for restructuring. Every sector in this country, every tribe, geopolitical zone in this country has called for restructuring. The South/South, the South/East, the South/West, even the Northern Elders have called for restructuring still this government has refused to restructure. That means it is not listening to the cry of the citizens.”
“I think, beyond sentiments and politics, there is no doubt that the country needs restructuring. The restructuring we are calling for is not for the benefit of now but for our children to have a Nigeria they can call their own. There have been projections that Nigeria will cease to be a country as far back as 2015 but still we are standing today but I dare say if we don’t restructure Nigeria into true federalism we will not have one Nigeria in a near future,” Dakpokpo further said.
