PDP Governors Call For Restructuring To Halt Drift Towards Another Civil War

Governors of the Peoples Democratic Power (PDP) have expressed fear that Nigeria may be headed to another civil war as “all our fault lines and differences are being stretched to the limit by a government that clearly lacks the capacity to govern.”

The governors also expressed deep concern and alarm at the deteriorating relations between various groups in Nigeria, adding that “this has given rise to ethnic and tribal tensions, religious divisions, and various forms of social and political cleavages.”

Calling for urgent devolution of powers and restructuring of the country, the governors which said that Nigeria cannot afford another civil war reaffirmed their conviction 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.”

In a communique signed by the Chairman, PDP Governor Forum, Aminu Tambuwal, after their meeting in Benue state, noted that the attitude of All Progressives Congress (APC)- led federal government has given rise to ethnic, tribal tension and religious division.

The governors condemned the alarming drift of Nigeria which if allowed to continue, will make Nigeria a failed state under the watch of the APC government.

They emphasized that Nigeria is in dire need of leadership at the federal level to avert the looming disaster.

They said 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.

While noting that governors have a role to play in the handling of some of the worsening situations, they regreted that their hands are tied behind their backs as the entire coercive authority in the country is monopolised by the APC federal government.

“Time has come to take advantage of the ongoing Constitution Amendment process to decentralise the security architecture of Nigeria and involve States and Local Governments.

“We call on the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission to send a new Revenue Allocation Formular that allocates more resources to States and Local Governments to Mr President for National Assembly’s action. It is a scandal that 21 years after the 1999 Constitution came into being, no new Revenue Formular is in place,” they said.

The governors, who also called for a more transparent and accountable running and operation of the NNPC, 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 governors said.