■ ‘APC pushing Nigeria to the precipice’
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum, yesterday, said an urgent devolution of power and restructuring of the polity has become imperative, if the country does not want another civil war.
The forum raised the alarm that the country is fast becoming a failed state, under the All Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government.
The PDP governors expressed worry that all fault lines and differences in the country have been stretched to the limit by the present administration.
The opposition governors stated this, in a communiqué issued at the end of their meeting, in the Benue State capital, Makurdi. It was read by Tambuwal, who is the chairman of the forum.
The meeting was attended by Governors Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Sokoto State; Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia State; Udom Emmanuel, Akwa Ibom State; Douye Diri , Bayelsa State; Samuel Ortom, Benue State; Ifeanyi Okowa, Delta State; Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Enugu State; Nyesom Wike, Rivers State; Seyi Makinde, Oyo State, Darius Dickson Ishaku, Taraba State; Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, -Adamawa State; -Godwin Obaseki, Edo State and deputy governor of Bauchi State, Baba Tela.
Also in attendance were the PDP National chairman, Uche Secondus and the Board of Trustees (BoT), Walid Jibrin
The PDP governors said the country is dire need of a government at the federal level “to avert the looming disaster.”
According to the governors, the alleged incapacity of the APC led administration to govern has resulted to “ethnic and tribal tensions, religious divisions, and various forms of social and political cleavages.”
They added that it is alarming that “security of lives and property of Nigerians are no longer guaranteed under the present government as a result of leadership incompetence and mismanagement of the nation’s affairs “
They noted “that the APC has been unable to even have a democratically-elected National Executive Committee as required by the Nigerian Constitution. A political party that operates by military fiat with an appointed and unelected Executive Committee at all levels from ward to national, has no business running the affairs of our country.
“APC cannot deliver democracy to Nigeria; even to constitute a Board of Trustees has been an impossible task for the party since inception.”
They noted that “it is imperative for the country to take advantage of the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution to decentralise the security architecture and involve states and local governments.
“We call on the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission to send a new Revenue Allocation Formular that allocates more resources to states and local governments to Mr President for the National Assembly’s action.”
Credit: Daily Sun