Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
A former governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, on Wednesday disclosed that President Muhammmadu Buhari has endorsed the report of the Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s committee on restructuring.
Osoba who said this at the Presidential Villa where he went to present his book “Battlelines: Adventures in Journalism and Politics” to Buhari, who featured in it prominently, maintained that the APC even had restructuring as devolution of powers from the Federal government to states, enshrined in its manifesto.
The journalism veteran appealed to Nigerians, especially statesmen and others agitating for restructuring of the country to be patient with the president and the APC, adding that steps would be taken to get the National Assembly to start debate on legalising the relevant aspects of the report.
Asked what advice he has for the president regarding the ministerial list, Osoba said: “I have said it, I am one of the founders of APC; I would not discuss in details because I have access; I am part of the presidency because the president is our president. But I can tell you, all this noise about restructuring, we in APC put devolution of power, true federalism in our manifesto and we’ve moved far from there to where a committee was set up headed by the governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai.
“That committee has submitted its report, that report has been presented to us in the caucus and the president was there; the president endorsed the outcome. I want Nigerians to please, give us time. I hope and pray that at the right time, the government or the party would send that report to the National Assembly for debate.
“I would say with all authority that restructuring lies with National Assembly. The president is not a military president, he cannot change anything by decree; sovereignty in Nigeria now is vested in the National Assembly. Those agitating for a sovereign national conference must go through the National Assembly and unless the National Assembly surrenders part of its powers by an Act, there can never be sovereign national conference.
“Secondly, agitation for a referendum, there must be an act of the National Assembly to create that referendum, it’s not the president that would by fiat or by executive order, order for a referendum. It must go through the National Assembly and that is why I plead with our elders: Pa Edwin Clark, Pa Adbanjo, Professor Banji Akintoyin – all across Nigeria, they met the 8th Senate and they heard what that National Assembly has done in terms of the review of the constitution. They should come back and tell us! We cannot move forward until we recognise the importance and the powers vested in the National Assembly. And for restructuring, let us go through the legal route.”
Recall that while presenting the panel’s report to the APC NWC in February, 2018, the chairman of the APC Committee on True Federalism, el-Rufai explained that some of the key recommendations included the devolution of more powers to states to control their own affairs.
He also explained that the committee recommended devolution of power to the states since there was an overwhelming popular demand for it.
El-Rufai had said: “States can create local governments and determine their structure,” adding that the committee “proposed amendments to Sections 7, 8, 162 of the first schedule, Part One of the Nigerian Constitution to give effect to his recommendations.