Chuks Okocha in Abuja
The Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, has called on Nigerians to look beyond the frenzy of restructuring as canvassed by the Southern Governors Summit in Asaba, Delta State.
Okechukwu, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), warned that conceding more powers to the governors would put the country’s democracy in grave danger.
In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, the VON boss advised Nigerians to tread carefully, and not to see the socio-economic and security challenges facing the country as a reason to give more powers to the governors, “who are already mismanaging their powers as Emperors.”
According to him, “Giving more powers to state governors will by omission or commission create Frankenstein monsters which will put our democracy in harm’s way.”
He recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018 endorsed the amendment of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, granting financial autonomy to the state judiciary and state legislatures, as foundation for real restructuring, “but painfully, two years down the line, the governors have refused to implement it.”
Okechukwu maintained that Nigerians cannot expect good governance when the governors acting as ‘Emperors’ had locked up all democratic institutions in the state.
He said: “Whereas one endorsed the Southern Governors’ communiqué that the progress of the country requires that urgent and bold steps be taken to restructure the Nigerian federation leading to the evolution of state police; review of revenue allocation formula in favour of the sub-national governments and creation of other institutions which legitimately advance our commitment to and practice of true federalism, one is however of the candid view that we need dual-restructuring.
“Firstly, we need dual-restructuring to restructure democratic state institutions so as to unlock state judiciary, state legislatures and local government councils.
“It will be paradoxical for us to expect good governance at the sub-national level when the governors have locked up democratic institutions.
“Secondly, we need to devolve relevant powers from the Exclusive Legislative List to states and local government councils.”
