The All Progressive Congress (APC) has lashed out at those criticizing vice president Yemi Osinbajo’s stand on restructuring saying that those doing so are trying to score cheap political points.
In a press statement issued by its acting National Publicity Secretary, Mr Yekinni Nabena, the party maintained that the report submitted by its committe last year has suggested 24 Critical areas which would address the issues being raised in several for a adding that both former vice president Atiku Abubakar and others who chided vice president Yemi Osinbajo are doing so to score cheap political points.
He stated that the party firmly believes in the position of the vice president that what Nigeria needs today is not geographical restructuring but “good governance, honest management of public resources, deeper fiscal Federalism and a clear vision for development.”
He stated that the frequent calls for Restructuring by many politicians in the country today in the past few months, “is often time a populist and opportunistic ploy to latch on and politically exploit plastic public narratives on the panacea to Nigeria’s problems and not necessarily for its realism and practicability”.
He noted that while past administrations have wasted billions of public funds to convene several national conferences which are subsequently left to gather dusts and achieved nothing at the end of the day.
The APC spokesman observed that after such conferences “Bad governance, corruption, bigotry and other ills remain the limiting factors that continue to hold the country back.
“We must never succumb to ethnic champions who promote campaigns to break up the country into tiny bits or other unrealistic and unpatriotic proposals in the name of restructuring to solve our problems as a country. It is simplistic and unconstitutional”, he said.
He wondered what effort the former vice president who have of late been in the forefront of campaign for Restructuring put in place when he was Vice President and Chairman of the National Economic Council throughout the eight years of the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration to pursue the restructuring agenda.
“How did he use his office to correct the imbalance in our federation he expresses today?
On the former Senate President Dark Mark, who also recently joined the restructuring chorus, he asked what effort at restructuring the former did when he was at the helm saying ” during eight years he never sponsored a motion on restructuring. Today he is promising to restructure the country.”
Alhaji Nabena cautioned that the nation,” must be wary of latter-day converts to the matter of restructuring, exploiting the issue for populist political campaigns. ”
The APC spokesperson noted that Prof Yemi Osinbajo submissions on good governance, “involves transparency and prudence in public finance, it involves social justice, investing in the poor and providing jobs and opportunities for the people, particularly young people. This remains the focus of the current administration as seen by the several social intervention programmes currently being implemented. Commendably, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is committed to implementing a New National Minimum wage”
He disclosed further that the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) scheme, comprising: GEEP MarketMoni, GEEP FarmerMoni and GEEP TraderMoni is being executed by the Bank of Industry and providing interest-free loans to petty traders and artisans across Nigeria.
“With the inception of the President Buhari administration, a well-articulated roadmap, considering all the issues involved in ensuring a new, well secured, better governed Nigeria with equitable distribution of resources within the component federating units, is being given serious attention”, he declared.
He also recalled that the APC set up a Committee on True Federalism under the Chairmanship of the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai adding the Committee submitted its report to the immediate-past National Working Committee, making its recommendations on twenty four items that Nigerians expressed views to balance our federation.
According to him , items like; creation of states, merger of states, delegation principle;, fiscal federalism, devolution of power and resources between state, federal and local governments, federating units form of government, independent candidacy, land tenure system, local government autonomy, power sharing and rotation, resource control, types of legislature, demand for affirmation for vulnerable groups – people with disabilities, women and youth, ministerial appointment, citizenship, state constitution, community participation, minimum wage, governance, judiciary, state re-alignment and border adjustment, circular status of the federation and referendum are contained in the APC committed report.
According to him, “a practical approach to implement the committees report is being considered by the Federal Government.”
“The APC believes that good, sincere, focused, and purposeful leadership at all levels will propel the country to its deserved heights. Sincere efforts towards achieving True Federalism are more important than politically-exploited populist rhetoric which achieve nothing. With emphasis on practicability, constitutionality and reality, we are confident that True Federalism or restructuring as some will like to call it, will be better achieved under the President Buhari-led APC administration, he emphasized.
