The All Progressives Congress has lashed out at politicians promising to restructure the country, describing them as latter-day converts.
The APC, in a statement by its acting National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, in Abuja, on Sunday, specifically berated a former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and an ex-President of the Senate, Senator David Mark.
Nabena stated that the two of them were silent on restructuring when they had the opportunity to canvass the reform.
He explained that some of those who were vocal about restructuring hitherto occupied public offices and had the opportunity to implement their ideas.
Nabena said they failed to do so but had regrouped and tried to latch on the issue to pursue political ends.
Nabena said the renewed restructuring debate particularly between the Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo and Atiku, which had gained traction on social media, needed to be put in context.
He said “Osinbajo, in his well-articulated response to Atiku, submitted that what Nigeria requires now is not geographic restructuring but good governance, honest management of public resources, deeper fiscal federalism and a clear vision for development.
“The All Progressives Congress cannot agree more with Prof Osinbajo.
“It must be said that the calls for restructuring by many politicians are oftentimes a populist and opportunistic ploy to latch on and politically exploit simplistic public narratives on the panacea for Nigeria’s problems and not necessarily for its realism and practicability.”
He noted that past administrations wasted billions of naira belonging to taxpayers and held national conferences which yielded no result in the end but rather served the narrow interests of a few.
The APC said, “We must never succumb to ethnic champions who promote campaigns to break up the country into tiny bits or other unrealistic and unpatriotic proposals in the name of restructuring to solve our problems as a country. It is simplistic and unconstitutional.
“For instance, Atiku was Vice-President and Chairman of the National Economic Council throughout the eight years of the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
“How did he use his office to correct the imbalance in our federation he expresses today?
“Senator David Mark was Senate President for eight years and never sponsored a motion on restructuring. Today, he is promising to restructure the country.
“We must be wary of latter-day converts to the matter of restructuring, exploiting the issue for populist political campaigns.”
The APC said since the inception of the President Buhari administration, a well-articulated road map for a better distribution of public resources had been developed and was being implemented.
The Punch