• There seems to be no end to the controversy that has dogged the issue of restructuring of Nigeria for effective governance.

    The latest salvo was fired by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday in response to the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) take on the matter.

    The PDP declared on Sunday that the sudden interest of the APC in the restructuring of the country is another ploy to deceive Nigerians and divert attention from critical issues of bad governance.

    The opposition party wondered why the APC which refused to participate in the 2014 national conference “convened partly to achieve key elements of restructuring” could wake up now to lay claim to being a proponent of the idea.

    PDP’s position which was contained in a statement issued by its spokesman, Dayo Adeyeye, was in response to an earlier statement in which the APC accused the PDP of not having genuine interest in restructuring.

    The statement by the PDP, signed by Adeyeye, reads in parts: “We have read with amusement the statement credited to the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Bolaji Ojo-Abdullahi, in which he said that PDP had never been and was not interested in restructuring.

    “This sudden interest of the APC in restructuring after several months of denial by its Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, some governors elected on the platform of the party and other senior officials” of the APC’s promise of “restructuring in its manifesto is the latest in a series of deceitful ploys designed and being implemented by the ruling party to hoodwink Nigerians ahead of the 2019 general elections.”

    According to PDP, “The APC has nothing more to offer Nigeria and Nigerians. The party only resorts to unbridled propaganda as a ploy to deceive Nigerians and distract them from the topical issues upon which they are required to assess APC’s performance in office.”

    Ahmed Makarfi

    PDP urged Nigerians not to take the APC for its word. “It is a party that was built and is still being sustained by propaganda. Making empty promises is their stock in trade. It is a do-nothing party that believes in nothing.

    “Indeed, our party’s commitment to constantly seeking solutions to the challenges confronting the nation caused us to amend our constitution to include the equitable devolution (decentralization) of power for greater functionality, national integration and rapid economic and social reconstruction, amongst other things. Examples can be found in Preamble 2(b) and (e), Section 7(b) and (f), and many more provisions of our Party Constitution,” he said.

    “It is against the backdrop of our party’s commitment to restructuring the system of socio-political governance in Nigeria for better functionality and efficiency that the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan summoned a national conference to recommend amendments to the Nigerian constitution. This conference submitted a report with several proposed amendments to the constitution which the APC-led Federal Government has refused to implement more than 2 years later.

    “It is imperative to point out that APC was the only political party which refused to attend the national conference in 2014. It is also imperative to point out that APC’s refusal to participate at the conference was predicated on a narrow and selfish interest.”

    But the APC countered PDP’s claim on standing on moral high ground when it comes to the issue of restructuring.

    In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, on Monday, the ruling party accused the PDP of being hypocritical on the issue. APC also flayed the opposition party for what it called its shallow interpretation of the meaning of restructuring as desired by Nigerians.

    The statement reads thus:

    “The All Progressives Congress (APC) notes the statement issued on Sunday by the spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Dayo Adeyeye, claiming that PDP has always supported restructuring. This should ordinarily be a welcome development, given that it provides opportunity for bi-partisan cooperation on this very important national issue.

    APC National Chairman, Chief Odigie-Oyegun

    “However, of concern to us is PDP’s rather shallow interpretation of restructuring as desired by Nigerians.  In his release, Mr. Adeyeye quoted several aspects of his party’s constitution which he claimed serve as evidence that PDP believes in restructuring. A cursory review of the referenced parts of the constitution would, however, suggest either the PDP is deliberately out to mislead or it just does not have an appropriate understanding of the restructuring that Nigerians clamour for.

    “For instance, preamble 2(b) of the PDP constitution quoted by Adeyeye states:  ’To work together under the umbrella of the party for the speedy restoration of democracy, the achievement of national reconciliation, economic and social reconstruction and respect for human rights and the rule of law.’

    “If statements such as the above are what the PDP intends to pass off as restructuring, this should further confirm that the party is still not in tune with the aspirations and dreams of the Nigerian people. It is indeed amusing that after being in power for 16 years, PDP is just waking up to realise that its constitution prescribed restructuring. If this is not political opportunism, we wonder what is. We understand that PDP needs desperately to return to reckoning; and realising that restructuring is the new political currency in Nigeria, it is now latching on and even claiming to be an apostle!

    “As the ruling party between 1999 and 2015, PDP organised two national conferences, in 2005 and in 2014. They had nine years between the first conference and the second one and one full year between the time the report of the 2014 conference was submitted and the time it lost power in 2015. Perhaps, if PDP shows which aspects of the two reports it had implemented in the time it had, then perhaps Nigerians might begin to take them seriously on the issue of restructuring.

    “If the PDP now believes in restructuring, we welcome them as latter day converts. But the appropriate behaviour would be for them to respect the efforts we are currently making to deliver on our party’s manifesto on restructuring. It must interest the PDP that we have dusted up the reports of their national conferences from the shelves they had left them to gather dust and those reports are now forming part of the work we are doing with our committee, which they have tried hard to denigrate.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, the APC believes in the restructuring of the country. It is at the very heart of our party’s manifesto as explicitly stated in Section 3 (1) thus: ’We will devolve more revenue and powers, such as policing to States and  Local Government so that decision making is closer to the people. We pledge to bring the government closer to the people through fiscal and political decentralization, including local policing.’

    “We welcome PDP and all the parties in opposition to work with us as we strive to meet the aspirations of Nigerians on this very fundamental issue of our national existence.”