•Public perception of Buhari changed after ARISE Television interview, says Tinubu
Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
A former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has said that the federal government must restructure the country in the interest and the survival of the nation.
Oyegun spoke in Abuja on Saturday night at the public presentation of a book titled, ‘APC’s Litmus Tests’ written by the Director-General of Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), Dr. Salihu Lukman.
The former Edo State governor said it was vital that these issues should be addressed as the country cannot continue to allow the subject to become a recurring threat.
Also, National Leader of APC, Senator Bola Tinubu, said the public perception of President Muhammadu Buhari had changed after his interview with ARISE NEWS Channel. He added that the face-off between Odigie-Oyegun’s successor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, and Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, was a collateral damage for the party.
Odigie-Oyegun stated that there was no question that the nation and its political parties were going through difficult times, adding that all those at the formation of the APC knew the uniqueness of the party’s constitution and its manifesto that promised change.
According to him, the forces of economics have made things, not quite the way the party wanted them to be.
He said the document the APC produced on true federalism, which passed through all the organs of the party was produced because there was a cacophony of voices over the issue of restructuring.
He said at that time, just as it is happening now, two people could not agree on what they meant by restructuring and the party needed to take control of the debate, define the issues, proffer solutions and went as far as having some drafts legislation.
Odigie-Oyegun said it was not by any chance a perfect document, but it reflected the thinking and the desires of Nigerians.
He stated: “Unfortunately, it has gone beyond that. We now have one or two things that did not happen before. People now want to disengage from the federation, which did not happen before and that is a warning sign. If a child asks for garri today you don’t give him, tomorrow he may decide it is cake he wants and we must not as a political party, we must not as the government of the federation give the impression that only military governments can fundamentally tamper with the basic structure of this nation.”
He said: “As a progressive government, it is proper that we show the nation that when the people want some degree of change, the party should be responsive to it and should address it.”
Odigie-Oyegun added: “Compromises have to be made, there’s no question about that. The report itself is not final. It still has to go through the litmus test of compromises. The ideas of people from different parts of the country will be different up to the extent they want to go with the proposals in the document, but it is necessary. It must be mandatory in the interest of the survival of our nation, that these issues be addressed. We cannot continue to allow the subject to become something that threatens our nation at any turn.”
Chairman of PGF and Governor of Kebbi State, Senator Atiku Bagudu, said the party was not shy to acknowledge that the country’s constitution was not perfect hence the setting up of Governor Nasir el-Rufai Committee on true federalism.
He said: “APC believes in letting us amend the constitution because society is dynamic not because somebody has been wronged and cheated. If that is the basis for correction, then the agitation will never stop but if it’s based on let us make it better.”
Bagudu stated that there are fundamental challenges to be addressed, stressing that the ruling party will not shy away from acknowledging them and providing transparent leadership.
He said there was a need to increase Nigeria’s budget to $300 billion or $500 billion to be able to fix the nation’s challenges in the various sectors.
Comparing Nigeria’s budget with the United States, a country with 331 million people, Bagudu said you would find that in 2019, the US budget was over $3.5 trillion and one per cent of $3.5 trillion is $35 billion.
According to him, that means Nigeria’s budget is less than one per cent of the US’ budget despite having a population that is about 70 per cent of the United States population.
The governor added: “If one considers the actual distribution of revenue, it even reflects the truth. For example, from January to May, the Federation Allocation Account Committee meetings, there is no month yet, where the equivalent of $2 billion has been distributed. So, if things go this way that means $24 billion will be distributed by the three tiers of government.
“But our quest includes expanding our horizon so that we can see how we will move the $35 billion federal budget to $300 billion or $500 billion federal budget because only then, can we meet some of our expectations, some of our aspirations in all sectors.”
The governor said that before then, the country would continue to struggle to find enough money for security, health, education, stressing that part of APC’s litmus test was to communicate this properly to Nigerians so that in making choices, they would not be blinded by promises.
Represented by former National Legal Adviser of APC, Mr. Babatunde Ogala (SAN), Tinubu said the public perception of the president had changed since last Thursday’s interview aired by ARISE NEWS CHANNEL, the broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspapers.
He stated: “After the interview of the president with ARISE NEWS, the perception of the public has changed. Yet those who will not see good will never see it.
“Have we sold our party and the achievements of this government enough – I think not.
“COVID-19 devastated the whole world. It’s even a bigger form of insecurity than even the banditry that we have made a big issue of. We all saw India, we saw Ecuador where people were counting corpses of their relatives as their own luggage. We all knew their predictions for Africa, how well have we sold these achievements to the public.”
On the clash between Oshiomhole and Obaseki that cost APC Edo State in the last governorship election in the state, Tinubu said he was one of those who facilitated behind-the-scene visits to Lagos – by Obaseki and by APC governors “because we knew the consequences for our party. Whether you like it or not, it was collateral damage for all of us.”
He added: “Whatever our party has gone through in the last eight years, we are still facing a lot of challenges. They’ve called our party different names, some even predicted that we are not going to have 12 months or 24 months.
“And if I must say, a party that has gone through eight years, it’s still an infant. There will still be more of these tests – disagreement, misunderstanding, realignment but one thing is that you are part of the intellectual content of our party.”
