National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), John Oyegun, has said the country is running a “bastardized political structure”.
The chairman said this at the public presentation of the report of the APC Committee on True Federalism on Wednesday, at the Ladi Kwali Hall, Sheraton Hotel, Abuja.
Mr. Oyegun said only true federalism, ”which has been the sole campaign of the party,” can correct what he described as a warped political structure.
The committee was set up under the chairmanship of the governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El- Rufai to look at the issue of restructuring which has been a focal point of political discourse in Nigeria in recent times.
The report was presented to the party six days ago by the governor and some members of the committee.
Mr. Oyegun said he believed past conferences were flamboyantly organised and ended in nothing, but ”what APC is bringing on board were true opinions of Nigerians across states.”
He also said that the current system of government is ”more of unitary system of government.”
“We have held flamboyant conferences on the structures of the constitution of this country but each time it always ended up in nothing. Today, we are moving from set-piece conferences to the beginning of a new Nigeria.
“Today you are going to be partners in the construction of the basic fundamental foundation that will truly wed this county together. There is no question at all that where we were and where we are now is basically a bastardised kind of federal structure, more like a unitary system but what we are going to present to the nation today are the considered views of the critical mass of this institution.
”Those who are strong in expressing their views, those who are not so strong, the women and the youth of this nation participated strongly and intensively in the results that are being presented to you today,” he said.
The chairman of the committee, Mr. El-Rufai, represented by his special adviser on politics, Uba Sani, also speaking at the event said his committee had produced clear recommendations and draft bills that incorporate amendments to strengthen federalism.
“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 true federalism, what we hear is that the recommendations are coming too close to the 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.
“It is difficult to escape the suspicion that for some people, this is a moment of peril. They appear to fear that the possibility of restructuring being actualised will remove the basis of their political viability. We assure them that they (will) always find new causes, like working with others to implement the recommendations,” he added. (Premium Times)