The Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal has said Nigeria needs restructuring to make governance efficient and increase the citizens’ faith in their country.
“I did say the best way for peaceful one Nigeria is that we have to accept that we must restructure,” Tambuwal told journalists.
He said political leaders must listen to the people they govern and do the right things to address the concerns, adding that almost all sections of the country were calling for restructuring.
“When you talk about restructuring in the South-South, what directly comes to mind is resource control,” the governor said.
“To someone in the South-West, what comes to his mind is physical federalism. Someone in the South-East will tell you they need more states; that is part of a geographical restructuring.
“In the northern part of Nigeria, restructuring means something totally different. Depending on where you are standing, your understanding of restructuring will be mirrored from that perspective. The key issue for me is that we should all work for restructuring for efficiency,” he added.
The governor recalled that during his term as Speaker of the House of Representatives, concerted efforts were made by the National Assembly made during the constitutional amendment process.
According to him, the National Assembly constituted about 360 committees, comprising professional bodies and civil society groups across all constituencies to be the drivers of the public hearing on constitution amendment across Nigeria.
He added, “The situation we are having today in our constitution makes it compulsory for a minister to belong to a political party. Therefore, the Attorney-General of the Federation. being also the Minister for Justice has to belong to a political party. How good is this for the judicial system of the country?
“To me restructuring means, we have to change our ways of doing things and face the concerns of Nigerians. What is the problem if President Muhamadu Buhari yields to the demands of Nigerians by taking a bill to the National Assembly to approve state police?”