The
presidency has blamed the growing clamor for the restructuring of the
Nigerian federation on those opposed to the Muhammadu Buhari
administration, particularly the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), despite
the fact that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is not
antagonistic to restructuring.
The
Special Adviser to the President, Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina
made this known at the weekend while speaking on the theme,
“Disintegration or Restructuring,” at the 8th Annual Lecture series of a
civil society group, The Change We Need Nigeria Initiative, held in
Abuja.
But
he was faulted by the Abia State governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu,
spokesman of the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin
and the lead discussant at the lecture series, Dr. Cosmas Ilechukwu who
all protested the labeling of proponents of restructuring as opponents
of the government.
Adesina,
who said restructuring has always been part of Nigeria’s political and
historical evolution, noted that the recent spate of agitations from
various quarters were being instigated by the opposition.
In
particular, he blamed the opposition PDP for prompting the calls for
restructuring, saying: “I begin to be suspicious at times that this call
for restructuring is another form of opposition politics.
“When
you find people who had been in power for 16 years are now the
champions of restructuring, so restructuring has become another form of
opposition.”
The
federal government, according to him, was not opposed to the
restructuring of the country, but will not allow anything that will lead
to its disintegration, as the Buhari administration will do everything
possible to ensure that Nigeria remains one united people and nation.
“This
government is not antagonistic towards restructuring but the government
will not brook any form of restructuring that would destabilise the
country,” he said, adding that the principle of power devolution
contained in the APC manifesto was a form of restructuring.
He
said: “Don’t forget that the All Progressives Congress government has
set up a committee to aggregate views on what restructuring actually is
and that committee is moving around the country. If it did not believe
in restructuring, why waste time on it?
“And
the president himself has said there are genuine grievances in
different parts of the country, which can be discussed. But it does not
mean that the country must disintegrate because of the genuine
grievances that we have.”
Ikpeazu,
however, countered Adesina’s position by saying that it was not true to
say that restructuring was being promoted by the opposition.
Represented
by Hon. Godwin Adindu, the governor said restructuring is pertinent to
the future of the country, as there is no issue that deserves more
mentioning now than the restructuring of Nigeria.
He
said: “Uncertainty and hopelessness have pervaded Nigeria’s political
landscape in recent times, making it necessary for all the ethnic
nationalities to come together to renegotiate the future of the
country,” adding that issues of power devolution to the states, fiscal
federalism, state policing and regional economic diversification should
be on the front burner.
He,
however, condemned and denounced those calling for the disintegration
of Nigeria through hate speeches, by bearing arms and ethnic strife.
He said all hands must be on deck to ensure an indivisible entity through self-sacrifice and patriotism.
Odumakin
also disagreed with Adesina, arguing that there have always been calls
for restructuring since the forceful amalgamation of the country in
1914, stressing that the unity of Nigeria has always being negotiated.
“So to say that the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable is a fallacy,” he said.
He
accused the APC-led government of insincerity on the issue of
restructuring, stressing that the party boycotted the 2014 National
Conference contrary to the “misinformation” propagated by the
president’s Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity Mallam Garba
Shehu recently.
Odumakin
advised that those who speak on behalf of government or the presidency
to acquaint themselves with the facts before they speak.
“The
rise of the nationalist movement that agitated for Nigeria’s
independence and all the constitutional conferences that led to
independence were nothing but negotiations. There were major milestones
in these negotiations.
“It
is therefore my consideration that the whole idea of non-negotiability
of Nigeria’s unity only developed on the strength of keeping the rent
from oil from the Niger Delta and proceeds from VAT generated by Lagos.
It has nothing to do with the love of the union beyond reaping without
sowing,” he said.
Odumakin
added that the country has the option of restructuring or
disintegrating, warning that if the country failed to restructure now,
it may end up being defunct like the former Soviet Union, Yugoslavia,
Czechoslovakia which refused to restructure and today are no more on the
world map.
Dr.
Ilechukwu, on his part, canvassed for the restructuring of the country
along regional lines, saying: “The six regional structure that seemed to
have gained reasonable mileage among a large segment of our population
should be constitutionalised.”
He
added: “I will support the call for a six regional arrangement with
some minor readjustments. The goal of restructuring is political
stability and economic development and it devolves certain
responsibilities from the central government limiting its area of
influence to such issues as fiscal policies, military/defence, foreign
policy, immigration and national elections.
“This
will make the federating units the main drivers of our economy and
catalysts of national development and transformation. Nigerians are
today crying and pointing to restructuring because in it lies their
comfort and security.”
Other
discussants were a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon.
Nkoyo Toyo and the Director General, Institute for National
Transformation, Prof. Vincent Anigbogu.
The
presidency yesterday also denied reports that $25 billion in oil
contracts were awarded by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC).
The
statement by the presidency was yet another response to a memo by the
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu to the
president in which he accused the Group Managing Director of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) of awarding contracts
valued at $25 billion without recourse to the corporation’s board.
Kachikwu
has since denied alleging a contract scandal or corruption, maintaining
that he only complained about the absence of governance in contract
awards in NNPC.
Speaking
on the issue yesterday, the vice-president’s spokesman, Laolu Akande
said a closer look at each of the reported projects showed that none of
them was a procurement contract.
“What
is more important is that when you look diligently at the referenced
projects/transactions one by one, you will see, as NNPC has shown, that
none of them was actually a procurement contract,” Akande said while
speaking to reporters in Abuja.
“When
I tweeted on Thursday morning last week, I had indicated that the vice
president, while acting as president approved the joint venture
financing arrangements.
“But
for some curious reasons, a few media reports used that tweet to report
that I said the then acting president approved N640 billion worth of
oil contracts. Such reporting is both false and misleading.
“Take
both the crude term contract and the direct sale, direct purchase
(DSDP) agreements for instance, these are not procurement contracts
involving the expenditure of public funds.
“Both
transactions are simply a shortlisting process, in which prospective
off-takers of crude oil and suppliers of petroleum products are selected
under agreed terms, and in accordance with due process,” he said.
Akande
said attaching monetary values to the said transactions was arbitrary,
adding that “whenever there is a monetary value on any consignment of
crude oil lifted in this country by any firm, the proceeds go directly
to the federation account and not to any company”.
“In
fact, the Buhari administration in the implementation of the TSA has
closed down multiple NNPC accounts in order to promote transparency and
probity,” he added.
He
further said there had been adverts seeking expressions of interest in
compiling the shortlist for the prospective off-takers of crude oil and
suppliers of petroleum products under agreed terms.
On
the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline contract, Akande said it is
a “contractor-financed contract which has not yet been finalised or
awarded” and as such, “still making its way to the Federal Executive
Council”.
He
said: “There were also three presidential approvals given on joint
venture financing arrangements, meaning loans to cater for cash call
obligations. One of these was okayed by the president in 2015, and two
by the then acting president in 2017.”
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