The Governors’ Forum of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Saturday expressed fear that Nigeria was drifting into a failed state if the deteriorating insecurity in the country is not effectively tackled.
In a communiqué they issued after their meeting in Makurdi, Benue State, to review the state of affairs in Nigeria and “common developments” in their states, the governors, after reviewing the spiraling violence, condemned “the alarming drift of Nigeria which if allowed to continue, will make Nigeria a failed state under the watch of the All Progressives Congress, APC, government.”
The governors were alarmed at the deteriorating relationship amongst various groups in Nigeria. They were deeply worried that “all our fault lines and differences are being stretched to the limit by a government that clearly lacks the capacity to govern.” This, they noted, “has given rise to ethnic and tribal tensions, religious divisions, and various forms of social and political cleavages.” They concluded that Nigeria is in dire need of leadership at the federal level to avert the looming disaster.”
Similarly, they expressed alarm “that security of lives and property of Nigerians are no longer guaranteed under the present government as a result of leadership incompetence and mismanagement of the nation’s affairs.” Though the governors, as heads of sub-nationals, have roles to play to check the crises, they regretted that their hands were tied behind their backs “as the entire coercive authority in the country is monopolized by the APC federal government.”
Consequently, they said the time had come to decentralise the security architecture of Nigeria and involve states and local governments through a constitutional amendment. They are convinced that “an urgent devolution of powers and restructuring of the country in a way that brings together various groups and tendencies in the country appears to have become imperative and timely now as Nigeria cannot afford another civil war.”
They called on the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC to send a new revenue allocation formula that allocates more resources to States and local governments to Mr. President for National Assembly’s action as the one in use is over 21 years. Similarly, they called for “a more transparent and accountable running and operation of the NNPC.”
Other resolutions are as follows:
“The meeting further condemned the intimidation of sitting Governors by the APC administration using all sorts of weapons like security agencies, unequal access to federal resources, promotion of divisions in the opposition political parties with fake promises and falsehoods. We significantly condemn the double standards that are applied by the APC-led federal government to intimidate PDP-controlled states. To this end, we call on Mr. President to lift the so-called “No flight Zone” and other intimidating tactics imposed on Zamfara State as similar measures have not been extended to similar states with security challenges like Kaduna, Borno, Katsina, Yobe and others. This is mostly politically-motivated to ensure that the Governors move over to APC.
“The meeting noted that the APC has been unable to even have a democratically-elected National Executive Committee as required by the Nigerian Constitution. A Political Party that operates by military fiat with an appointed and unelected Executive Committee at ALL LEVELS from WARD to NATIONAL has no business running the affairs of our country. APC cannot deliver democracy to Nigeria; even to constitute a Board of Trustees has been an impossible task for the party since inception. It further expressed surprise that the APC is interested in playing politics and jockeying for power in 2023, when they have done an abysmal and terribly poor job of their current questionable mandate.
“The Governors were distressed that Nigeria is now officially the country with the highest unemployment rate in the world at 33% under the disastrous leadership of APC. This is following on the heels of yet another feat of being the country with the second highest poverty rate in the world. For APC, it is indeed a race to the bottom.
“The meeting received briefings from the National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, and Chairman PDP Board of Trustees, Senator Walid Jibrin, and assures Nigerians that help is on the way as the PDP is primed to offer effective leadership ONCE AGAIN to Nigeria. It enjoined Nigerians to once more place their trust on the PDP as the only effective vehicle to salvage the country.
“The meeting commended the Governors of PDP-controlled states for their innovative approaches to governance in many fields especially infrastructure, education, health, women and youth initiatives and the timely delivery of developmental projects, across the country. It is these LEGACY PROJECTS being undertaken in many PDP-governed states that will be presented to Nigerians as our scorecard at the appropriate time.
“The meeting thanked the Host, His Excellency, Governor Samuel Ortom for hosting the first meeting of the PDP Governors in recent times outside Abuja and for holding the Party together not only in Benue State but in the entire North Central Zone.”
The meeting was attended by 14 PDP governors and the deputy governor of Bauchi State, with Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, chairman of the group presiding.
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