THE decision of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to set up a 10-man committee on restructuring under the leadership of Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufia has been faulted by the camp of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on the grounds that the committee was needless.
It also said that having an el-Rufai, who had earlier made his anti-restructuring stance known to head the committee, was laughable. These positions were stated in a statement yesterday by the estranged Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Timi Frank. The statement reads: “Governor El-Rufai has not hidden his opposition to the issue of restructuring since Nigerians began to remind us of our promise which is boldly written in our party’s promise book, hence the need to remove him because he does not believe in it.
“Kaduna State Governor has also called some of our leaders and former Head of State different names because of this issue. Kaduna State governor while speaking recently in an interview had described those calling for the restructuring of Nigeria as political opportunists and irresponsible. “For the fact that restructuring is one of the promises in APC manifestoes, it will amount to deceit if the party reneges on its promise.
“The governors and the National Working Committee (NWC) should know that the promise of restructuring was one of the reasons Nigerians massively voted for the party in 2015. Therefore, such issue is non-negotiable and should be a priority that must be fulfilled. I see no reason for setting up a committee for something that is not negotiable at this time.” On his part, Atiku, who earlier spoke last Thursday on the import of restructuring at an event in Nsukka, further broadened his argument yesterday on his twitter handle, saying it meant returning power to the people.
Atiku said: “I favor restructuring because I am proudly Nigerian and favour a united Nigeria that offers every man, woman, and child a brighter future where each and everyone has a chance to build and share in this great nation’s potential. “The restructuring I want to see happen is changing the structure of our country to take power from the elite and give it back to whom it belongs to, the people. It will help to bring the benefits of the change that our people were promised in the last general election.
“The whole purpose of restructuring is to eliminate those policies that feed the mindset that drives the sharing behavior. “Our national wealth is being drained by a select few instead of building a country for all of us. It has to end. “We need to return resources and power back to the people. “By restructuring, we can guarantee unity, equity, security for our nation. I favor a united Nigeria that offers everyone a brighter future and we have a chance to build and share in this great nation’s potential. “The restructuring I want to see happen is to bring the benefit of the change that our people were promised in the last general election.
“Let me caution that restructuring is not a magic bullet that would resolve all Nigeria’s challenges but is a necessary first step. Those, who seek to dismember the country, think that once their dream is achieved their part of the country will become a paradise. Not so. “To me, restructuring means making changes to our current federal structure so it comes closer to the vision of our founding fathers. “It also means restructuring the very issues and challenges that led our founding fathers to opt for a less centralized system.
“The issue of restructuring is beyond resource control. My vision of restructuring will not make some states richer and others poorer. Restructuring is a win-win for all Nigerian states. “If we are to grow our revenues we need to change the way we think of our resources and nurture them for the benefit of all. So let us start by not thinking as if our resources consist only of oil. Oil is not infinite. “We must begin to look for other and more sustainable sources of income than oil.”
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