2019 election: Coalition of Northern Groups agrees to restructuring with caveat
The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), who convened a summit at Arewa House, Kaduna State, has presented a five-page communiqué bordering on restructuring with a condition that “The seeming endorsement by some Northern leaders of a brand of restructuring that clearly places the region at a disadvantage is unacceptable and must be discountenanced. Any reorganisation process that fails to involve the discussion of the limits and extent of all the federating components with regard to available space and resources shall not be acceptable to the North.”
With this caveat, political observers say the North is mindful of the fact that any form of restructuring that creates access distance to oil earnings, may not work after all as only a possible end to monthly sharing of federal earnings otherwise called allocations which are largely made up of receipts from crude oil sales can clearly places the region at a disadvantaged position which CNG has described as “unacceptable and must be discountenanced”.
The document made available to Business Hilights by the spokesperson of the group, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, argued that “For the avoidance of doubt, the North fully supports the restructuring of the country and shall be prepared to represent itself in any debate on the issue.”
“The North shall not settle for any restructuring plan that falls short of a total, comprehensive and holistic reordering that should first and foremost include the peaceful, democratic and civil determination of the people or groups of people that truly and sincerely wish to remain part of the Nigerian federation.”
However, during a visit to Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, the Bayelsa State governor, Chief Seriake Dickson, stressed that “There is nothing human that is perfect. Nation building is work in progress and is actually not something that will be finished by one leader, party or government, or even by one generation. Our leaders, our founding fathers gave us this country, but we cannot claim that the present structure of this country is perfect.”
Chief Dickson made it clear that “for those that may not have properly understood the concept of restructuring; restructuring is not evil and portends no evil, nor doom for Nigeria.”
It would be recalled that since the current federal government started seeing the handwriting on the wall that 2019 general election would be won and lost on the later of assurance on restructuring, it has started loosening its hitherto hard stance on the concept.
