The Secretary General of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Anthony Sani, has said the northern group cannot throw its weight behind the call for restructuring it does not understand the vision behind it and what it stands to achieve
He also claimed that if restructuring was in the manifesto of the All Progressives Congress, President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo would have shown genuine interest in the agitation for it.
“If restructuring is in the manifesto of the All Progressives Congress, President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo would certainly not be indifferent to it.
“I doubt it because the vice president once raised issues about what is meant by the term ‘restructuring’, considering the fact that some people talk of ‘true federalism’; some talk of ‘fiscal federalism’. Others talk of ‘resource control’ and still others talk about ‘resource ownership’. ACF is not for restructuring. ACF cannot be for a restructuring whose definition is not clear,” Sani told SUNDAY PUNCH.
Speaking further, he said, “ACF has not given restructuring any serious thought, not for lack of ideas but because we do believe the problems of this country are not due to structure or form of government but due more to collapse of national ideals and core values of humanity which have affected the way we do things substantially. By that, I mean our shared values of justice, liberty, common decency and prosperity for all.”
The ACF secretary noted that the country had had a “confederation with a weak centre which the first military coup supplanted with the unitary system before the current federalism that is a compromised between the two extremes.”
“What we now have is a federalism which has 36 states. Yet, some people say it is not working because the states are not viable. But how come Lagos State is viable under the current federalism?” Sani said.
Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
No comments:
Post a Comment