The All Progressives Congress (APC) Committee on True
Federalism has said it will consider 12 issues as it sets out on its
assignment.
The committee is chaired by the Kaduna State Governor,
Malam Nasir el-Rufai.
The committee said will also consult the report of the 2005
Political Reforms Conference, the 2014 National Conference and reports of
previous national conferences in its assignment to determine the party’s
position on restructuring.
Secretary of the Committee, Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi,
revealed the 12-point agenda at a news conference in Abuja.
The briefing was also attended by the Director-General of
the Progressives Governors Forum, Salihu Mohammed Lukman.
Public hearing on the assignment begins on Monday in Benin,
Edo State; Enugu in Enugu State; and Ibadan, Oyo State and will end with a
meeting with civil society organisations and professional groups in Abuja on
October 9.
Adetunmbi said: “Accordingly, and pursuant to its mandate,
the Committee met, deliberated and listed out the following issues and called
for memoranda from members of the public.
“The 12 issues are: Creation/merger of states and the
framework and guidelines for achieving that;
“Derivation principle bordering on what percentage of federal collectible revenue should be given back;
”Devolution of powers on what item on the exclusive
legislative list should be transferred to the recurrent list and federating
units, especially state and community police, prisons;
“Federation Units: Should Nigeria be based on regions or
zones or 36-state structure;
”Fiscal federalism and revenue allocation;
“Form of government (parliamentary or presidential);
“Independent candidacy;
“Land tenure system;
“Local government autonomy;
“Power sharing and rotation;
“Resource control; and
“Type of legislature.
“We are expecting inputs from the public on whether or not
should Nigeria create more states; should states be merged?
“If so, what should be the framework and guidelines. “What
percentage of Federal collectable resources should be given back to their sources,
e.g. crude oil, solid minerals, Value Added Tax.”
Adetunmbi said contributions would not be limited to members
of the party, but to all Nigerians who have something meaningful to say on the
development of the country.
He said: “We must recognise that the work of nation building
is an ongoing process in which every stakeholder has a role to play, by making
his own contribution.
“In this case, the APC as a national political party is an
institution and a stakeholder that has a role to play in making its own
contribution. This exercise is its own way of making that contribution.
“The APC felt that it is not necessary to think alone among
ourselves, but to also ask members of the public what they think.
“That is why everything this Committee is doing is not about
its own opinion, but harvesting the opinion of the ordinary people in order to
form an opinion. After all, no political party exists just by
itself, but by
the mandate of people.
“In this regard, we have put up an announcement calling on
members of the public to submit memorandum and meet us at designated venues
without any discrimination.
“So, it is an open invitation to all Nigerians to attend and
make their views and voices to count.”
On whether the work of the committee will not clash with the
public hearing on the same issue being planned by the Northern States Governors
Forum, Adetunmbi said it won’t.
“The Northern Governors Forum members are stakeholders in
the development of Nigeria and they have every right to consult people on the
future of Nigeria. There is no monopoly of ideas.
“The party felt that in view of the ongoing discussion
across the country on the state of federalism, it is good for the party to
understand exactly what its role is and what its definition of the issues are and,
in doing so, the party felt in its wisdom that public consultation is necessary
and that is what we are doing.
“That does not foreclose any other body within the country
to do its own work. That is why the South West just consulted and put
something in the public domain.
“That is a body of information and knowledge from which
ideas can be gathered in the best interest of the country.”
Adetunmbi also dismissed the possibility of the work of the
committee clashing with the legislative functions of the National Assembly,
which has constitutional mandate on restructuring.
“The issue of conflict with the National Assembly does not
arise because this exercise is not trying to make laws but to understand what
the popular demand of the people is which the party can use to advocate within
its members in the National Assembly for necessary constitutional amendment.
Constitutional amendment is not one in a life time opportunity, but once in
every four years.
“So, the fact that the National Assembly is going through a
process does not foreclose public discussion and debate on what should happen,
what needs to change and there is always a time table and an opportunity in
future to take such ideas and turn them into necessary laws by the National
Assembly.
“If the issue of referendum comes out as responses from our
consultations, it will surely be reported. This is a subject which the
committee itself has no opinion. We are not canvassing any opinion as a
committee.”
By Wale Odunsi
