Restructuring: PDP charges  Buhari to present 2014 National Confab Report to NASS

By Atevure Princess,

 

Nigerian main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged President Muhammadu Buhari to present the 2014 National Conference Report to the National Assembly as parts of the effort to restructure Nigeria.

 

The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, on Tuesday in Abuja, said that the authentic materials for a genuine restructuring of Nigeria were contained in the 2014 national conference report, as such should be a working document as the 9^th Assembly amends the constitution.

 

He explained that the PDP has rejected the alleged plan by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to submit what it described as a partisan report of its committee on restructuring into the National Assembly to replace the 2014 report.

 

Ologbondiyan described it as an attempt to manipulate the system as well as frustrate the widespread clamour and efforts by the majority of Nigerians for a genuine restructuring.

 

Ologbondiyan said that such a move would negate the wishes of some 200 million Nigerians, whose collective interests were contained in the conference report.

 

He said Nigerians were alarmed over a fresh ploy to create an impression of commitment to restructuring, just to soften the ground for some party leaders’ personal political interests, particularly presidential ambitions, ahead of the 2023 elections.

 

“Our party stands at the forefront of efforts for genuine restructuring, but we hold that the authentic materials for a genuine restructuring are contained in the 2014 National Conference report.

 

“The report wherein Nigerians, across all the divides, collectively provided a road map out of our constitutional quagmires and not a partisan report by the APC.

 

“It is, therefore, unacceptable that the 2014 National Conference report, which embodies the desires and hopes of over 200 million Nigerians, has been shelved.”

 

Ologbondiyan said that the report was personally handed over to President Buhari by his predecessor, former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 for implementation in line with the wishes and aspirations of the people.

 

“Our party, therefore, charges President  Buhari to bring out the 2014 National Conference Report, dust it up and present it as an executive bill to the NASS to guide the desired amendment to the 1999 Constitution (as amended) with regard to restructuring.

 

“The PDP insists that the partisan whims of one party, in a multi-party country of over 200 million people, cannot override the decisions that were meticulously reached by the majority of Nigerians at a national conference.”

 

Ologbondiyan said that Nigerians were only interested in a genuine effort toward a holistic amendment process that would restructure Nigeria.

This, according to him, includes the areas of true federalism, devolution of powers, electoral reforms and unbundling of critical items in the exclusive list, which the PDP is canvassing.

 

Ologbondiyan recalled that in the campaigns that led to the 2019 elections, the PDP made genuine restructuring that captures the desires of Nigerians the hallmark of its campaign.

 

He called on Buhari to immediately do the needful by presenting the 2014 National Conference report to the National Assembly as an executive bill on restructuring as desired by Nigerians.

 

Ologbondiyan said what Nigeria needed at the moment was restructuring genuinely derived from the people and which guarantees true federalism, equity, justice, fairness as well as national cohesion, and not a partisan document.

(NAN)