APC Explains Delay In Restructuring Nigeria
The All progressives Congress (APC) has adduced the need to fix the nagging problems of insecurity and the recession as reasons for the delay in restructuring the country as outlined in the party’s manifesto.
APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, Tuesday faulted claims that the party was playing politics with the issue, said the issue of restructuring the country may not be placed on the front burner before 2019.
According to him: “My own take is that every government has its own priority and you will agree with me that if you have to deal with the issue of Boko Haram or you need to deal with the issue of the economy that has gone into recession and all that, you have to get your priorities right. I don’t think it would be a wise move to add the challenges of restructuring if you have not dealt with the problems that affect the average Nigerian.
“So when people are hungry, when people are losing jobs, when people’s salaries are not being paid I think any responsible government would consider this to be a priority even while it still believes in the restructuring of the country.
“The issue of restructuring is never a gimmick. It is in the manifesto of our party. How can that be a gimmick? That is why I said that the fact that it has not been done does not mean that it would not be done.’’
Meanwhile, former Vice President and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar, has lauded former military president Ibrahim Babangida for throwing his weight behind calls for the restructuring of Nigeria.
In a statement, he also commended the recent resolution of the APC Progressive Governors Forum and several well-meaning Nigerians who stressed the need to restructure and entrench true federalism in the polity.
Saying that the issue transcends religion and ethnicity, he noted that the convergence of positions by leaders and stakeholders from diverse regions of the country on the issue speak volume of the need to ensure good governance in the polity.
He explained that the agitations for secession would not have arisen if the country had shown sincere readiness to address the underlying problems that feed the agitations by separatist forces.
