– The calls by some agitators for Nigeria to be restructured may have been punctured by the Attorney-General and minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami
– Malami said restructuring Nigeria means that the state Houses of Assembly would be scrapped and the size of the Senate would be reduced
The Nigeria’s Attorney-General and minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami, has said the agitations and provocative rhetorics of those clamouring for restructuring of the country cannot help them achieve their dream.
The Nation reports that Malami, who said this at a one-day think tank conference in Abuja organised by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), further warned against demonstrations as he noted that restructuring is not an easy process.
He agreed that the country’s federal system had been experiencing challenges, but that reforming it is not an easy task.
Malami said restructuring Nigeria would mean scrapping of all state Houses of Assembly
ZENITHBLOG.com learnt that Malami argued that the abolishment of states through restructuring would have multiplier effects on the nation including downsizing of the National Assembly and abolishing State Houses of Assembly.
“In Nigeria today, there are demands for restructuring, for deconstructing the excessive concentration of powers at the centre, for a dispersion of power to the lower levels of government along with special provisions for the empowerment of women and other socially disadvantaged groups for the country to move away from the cooperative federalism of several decades to a more competitive form of economic federalism, for a fiscal federalism that presents the challenges of addressing regional inequalities and of balancing the concerns of equity and efficiency in intergovernmental fiscal relations, among many others.
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“Federalism is imbedded in our constitution as contained in sections 2, 3 and 5. It is not out of place to state that as far as our constitutional democracy is concerned, the idea of restructuring is not a function of advocacy or agitation.
“It is about constitutional accommodation and or alternative constitutional amendment.
“As things stand, restructuring requires amending the constitution to accommodate referendum or, in the alternative, a constitutional amendment to the 1999 constitution, which in this case must be supported by majority of legislators in 24 states of the federation as enshrined in Section 9 of the constitution.
“Whether that process is going to be an easy sale is a conjecture that should be left for deliberation.
“But one thing that is certain is the inevitable implication that abolishing states through restructuring process will certainly translate to the eventual multiplier effect of abolishing the state house of assembly and perhaps downsizing the National Assembly and probably the civil service and other related federal institution.
“This indeed is a tall order that cannot be achieved through advocacy, emotional outburst or provocative rhetorics and demonstrations. The beauty of democracy is in the process and legislative process is in our case the only answer,” he said.
Continuing, the minister added: “It is true that Nigeria’s federal system has been experiencing challenges and there have been agitations and prescriptions to reform and modify it.
“Reforms and modifications, institutional arrangement, systems and processes are normal in festoons, but are not done in single swoop as being advocated in Nigeria. Mega changes are not healthy for federations.
“Change is a gradual process that must be democratic and subjected to legislative and administrative processes as provided by law.
“We must use democratic means to reform our federal system. We need to recognise that both federalism and democracy are mechanisms for managing diversity.
“Indeed, while federalism provides the Institutional framework for managing diversity, democracy makes possible the negotiation for diverse identity claims by providing them with representation, voice and political mechanisms by which the competing claims are balanced and reconciled.
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“There is no true or false federalism. Indeed, there is no single, pure ideal federal model that is universally applicable everywhere. Each federation reflects the particular conditions and circumstances that produce it.
“We cannot wish away the particular conditions and circumstances that have produced the challenges in our federal system. We must use democratic means to find solutions to these numerous challenges.
“It is democracy that articulates citizens’ preferences and places limits on arbitrariness.
“As political realities and experiences across the world have shown, all federations, whether established by a coming together or holding together process, experience deep rooted conflicts and ours cannot be an isolated case.”
Malami’s argument may have put paid to calls by various groups in the nation including the Afenifere that the country be restructured.
The issue of restructuring is part of the reasons for the agitations in the southeast and Niger Delta areas of the country.
However, Malami seems to have the support of Kayode Odetoyinbo, a Catholic Bishop, who has called on Nigerians to forget the idea of restructuring as it will not help Nigeria solve her problems.
The cleric of the Abeokuta Diocese said this on Sunday during the 51st World Communications’ Day held at Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Cathedral, Itesi, Adatan, Abeokuta.
“The restructuring is borne out of agitation, political, economic emancipation not religious.
“If restructuring will be good, what will come out of it, if the present restructure is not good, what have we experienced from it.
“If we restructure, my question is, who will govern those areas we restructured?” he asked.
Watch as this Nigerian speak about the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party he claims he helped in 2015:
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