For more than ten years now, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has identified true fiscal federalism in Nigeria as its primary mission. Experts have asserted that the actualisation of this objective will significantly minimise the challenges affecting the country with regard to a plethora of development and security-related matters. The restructuring agenda was the cornerstone of the APC’s presidential campaign in 2015 with former President Muhammadu Buhari as its presidential candidate at the time.
Embedded in the APC manifesto were pledges towards reforming national policies for achieving true federalism. According to the manifesto, APC’s goals, among other things, were to “initiate action to amend our Constitution with a view to devolving power, duties and responsibilities to states and local governments in order to entrench true Federalism and the Federal spirit”, as well as to “begin widespread consultations to amend the Constitution to enable States and Local Governments to employ State and Community Police to address the peculiar needs of the community”.
Buhari and the APC went on to win the elections establishing a new government to upset the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). With high expectations for a new and solid political system that will be beneficial to all regions of the federation, Nigerian citizens keenly observed the new government as time progressed. However, it appeared that upon weighing the APC’s words and actions during the campaign and comparing them to subsequent events after Buhari was sworn in, the general public had found the new administration wanting.
To start with, serious concerns were raised about the failure of the APC to act on, or transmit the reports of its Restructuring Committee set up in 2017 by former Kaduna State governor and APC member, Nasir El-Rufai, to the National Assembly for inclusion in the Constitutional review. This (lack of) action by the APC appeared to be in direct contradiction, not only with the party manifesto but the APC Constitution as well. Article 7 of the APC Constitution commits the party to promote and foster the unity, political stability and national consciousness of the people of Nigeria, and to promote true federalism in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Another blow came in 2018 when Buhari gave his New Year speech addressing the country. He completely eschewed the idea of restructuring, implying that it would not resolve the country’s issues directly. He said, “When all the aggregates of nationwide opinions are considered, my firm view is that our problems have more to do with process than structure.” Understandably, this new position effectively dampened people’s hopes, but to make certain that his true views on restructuring were passed across, Buhari explicitly denounced restructuring as his administration’s objective. He claimed that the citizens clamouring for it were ignorant of the consequences of war.
He remarked, “The other issue is that those who are currently calling for restructuring and conference on what they call ethnic nationality, if you go to Southern Kaduna, Taraba, who is to represent them? We have a different combination of ethnicity in many parts of the country. Even Kano and Kaduna, Igbo have properties. The same goes for Yorubas. There are Fulani in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. So those calling for whether separation or restructuring, some of them I will say they are very naive or even mischievously dangerous. Those agitating for restructuring are ignorant of war and its consequences. Because Nigeria is a dominant force in west Africa.”
Obviously, many Nigerians did not take too kindly to this submission and echoes of disapproval could be heard all across the nation from political scholars and laymen alike.
Notable critics included former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, who described Buhari’s pre-election campaign as an “election scam”. He said, “If a Nigerian youth makes a false promise of marriage to a woman and obtains money from her, the EFCC will arrest him for ‘romance scam’. Yet, Buhari made false promises to restructure Nigeria and obtained votes from Nigerians based on that. Is that not an ‘ election scam’? The biggest issue General Buhari campaigned on in 2015 was restructuring. Now, he says he will NEVER restructure Nigeria.”
Many others tagged Buhari’s administration dishonest and unsympathetic to the plight of the average Nigerian.
The moral integrity of political actors has been a major subject of discourse in political fora for many years. Wikipedia describes the word politics as a means of “achieving and exercising positions of governance – organised control over a human community, particularly a state”. As a corollary, one might be compelled to ask if honesty is an inherent characteristic of politics. Ancient Greek scholar, Aristotle, espoused a political philosophy that answers this query in the affirmative. He asserted that the government exists for the sake of fostering “eudaimonia” which translates to a “good life” for its citizens. He emphasised on pleasant virtues as a necessary feature of the government. Other political theorists like Niccolo Machiavelli rejected this view and insisted that a political leader may be required to behave in evil ways if necessary to maintain his authority. However, a good number of political analysts maintain that in a standard democracy, the rights of the citizenry supersede the rights of any political office holder, given that the latter was elected into office by the former.
In the build-up to the 2023 presidential elections, the APC played the restructuring card once again, this time with Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the flag-bearer for the party. Tinubu himself had already made his stance on restructuring clear prior to the elections. In 2020, during a roundtable discussion titled “The time for restructuring is now”, Tinubu, commonly believed to be a staunch democrat, aligned with the pro-federalism side, advocating decentralisation and the allocation of more funds towards individual states and less to the Federal Government.
In his brief period as the Nigerian President, Tinubu has had his fair share of accomplishments, including but not limited to the assent to the electricity bill which authorises states, companies and individuals to generate, transmit and distribute electricity. He has also been commended for the inauguration of a Residential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms in Abuja.
However, pundits have noted, subtly, that there exists no codified documents that speak to Tinubu’s restructuring agenda.
Analysts have highlighted a number of pressing matters that require special attention for the sake of restructuring, including the creation of state police, reduction in the cost of governance, as well as the number of Ministries, Departments and Agencies at the federal level.
There’s also the issue of resource control and the need for decentralisation to enhance fiscal autonomy. There have also been queries about whether Tinubu will revisit and properly integrate the recommendations of the 2011 Stephen Oronsaye report.
However, acute observers have fearfully pointed out that Tinubu is yet to reveal his current position on the aforementioned points since he assumed office as the president about six months ago, neither has he shared any strategies he would implement to achieve the goal of federalism. In view of Buhari’s attitude towards restructuring before and after his tenure, it’s rather understandable that citizens would be wary of Tinubu making a similar volte-face after boldly coming out to preach and support the restructuring agenda.
The federalism ideal has continued to remain in limbo for the past eight years of APC government, despite the fact that it is a primary element of its philosophy as a party. Tinubu’s silence on restructuring has started to become audible to various socio-cultural organisations across the country. Incidentally, the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF), which comprises the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere; the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide; the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, and the Middle Belt Forum, has called out to President Tinubu to follow through on the promise to restructure Nigeria to a true federal state. The SMBLF noted that Nigeria’s future was hinged on a flawed federal structure that needs to be re-worked. The group stated, “The Federal Government should, as a matter of urgency, and priority, work towards the restructuring of the country and enthrone true federalism as was originally entrenched in the 1960 and 1963 constitutions.”
With a lot of tribalistic propaganda being conveyed by secessionists capitalising on perceived injustices and feelings of marginalisation, the state of inter-ethnic relations has become very volatile, especially in the aftermath of the 2023 presidential elections.
Prof Afe Babalola has emphasised the need for restructuring to help assuage these feelings of injustice among ethnic groups.
“Without restructuring, the deep-rooted mistrust, fuelled by a sense of historical injustice, suppression and oppression by the diverse constituent members will continue to heat up the nation, making it to remain a ‘pressure cooker’ of insecurity, terrorism, and extremism that the country has fast become,” he posited.
It has gradually become general consensus that many of Nigeria’s challenges can only be cured through restructuring. In spite of whatever opinions his political opponents may have about him, the process of enlisting the support of the National Assembly, state legislatures, governors, and other stakeholders can only be led by President Tinubu. Will he fully commit to the realization of this dream shared by many Nigerians, scholars and laymen alike? The answer to that question remains to be seen.
