Urge Tinubu to expedite action on bill enactment
The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, yesterday, lauded the bill seeking to make Nigeria a regional government system. National Publicity Secretary of the organisation, Jare Ajayi, who spoke with The Guardian on the issue, said that the move to return the country to a regional arrangement is a welcome development. He said that the existing six geo-political zones could be used for the proposed regional structure.
The Afenifere spokesman, who advocated public discussions of the bill with a view to ensuring that the envisaged structure would make the constitution a true Nigerian constitution, urged the President to assent to the bill expeditiously when it comes to his table.
In the same vein, the immediate past Secretary-General of Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), Dr Kunle Olajide; a former Nigerian Ambassador to the Philippines, Dr Yemi Farounbi and a political scientist, Prof. John Ayoade, who spoke with The Guardian in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, lauded the move, emphasising that it would be more realistic than the system the country is operating now.
Olajide said: “It depends on who is sponsoring the bill. Are they from the six zones? Let’s wait and see. It is difficult to predict. It is not a surprise to me. It is laudable. It will be more realistic than what we have now.”
On his part, Ayoade said it is another approach to restructuring. He, therefore, called for a lot of consultations by the President, saying the move would raise a lot of dust.
Farounbi said there is no point rejoicing now until we see the distribution of functions and powers between the central government and the federating units.
