Senators from the north and south have adopted contrasting positions on the agitations to return Nigeria to regional government.
They expressed their views at the sidelines of the ongoing two-day retreat on the amendments to the 1999 Constitution. It is organised by the Senate Committee on Constitution Review in collaboration with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) in Kano.
While senators from the north vehemently opposed the move, those from south described it as a welcome development that would improve the economy, tackle insecurity and fast-track infrastructural development.
The upper legislative chamber, through Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, however, assured that the issue of regionalism was not part of the ongoing review of nation’s constitution.
A ranking Senator from Bauchi Central Senatorial District, Abdul Ningi told reporters that his people would never support the idea because they did not enjoy any form of development when regionalism was practiced in the First Republic.
The Chairman of the enate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa advised Nigerians against mistaken the establishment of the zonal development commission for regionalism.
He said that the various geopolitical zonal development commission was strictly for the social and economic development of their areas.
Similarly, former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume said the idea of true federalism was no longer fashionable because many countries in Africa had discarded it.
He advocated the creation of strong institutions that would enhance good governance and curb corruption and insecurity.
Also, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TetFund, Senator Muntari Dandutse (Katsina South) disagreed with the proponents of regional government.
He said the essence of the ongoing retreat was to improve on the defects and anomaly discovered in the constitution over the years.
However, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari (Oyo North) disagreed with those condemning the regional system of government.
He said: “In those years, the North was known for the pyramid of groundnuts, the South West was known for cocoa, we should be able to do that”.
Bamidele said that the issue of regionalism could not be changed through constitution amendment.
Source: Daily Trust
