North Will Resist Restructuring – Ango Abdullahi Vows

Ango Abdullahi, chairman, board of trustees (BOT) of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), says the northern part of the country will resist restructuring “objectively and politically”.

Speaking in an interview with The Sun, the elder statesman criticized those clamouring for the restructuring of the country, saying it is targeted at a particular region.

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Abdullahi said the only way Nigeria can be restructured is for the government to call for a sovereign national conference.

“We have all personalised restructuring with a view to targeting a section of the country and this is the area that we feel very sensitive about and we will resist it. Even if we don’t resist it objectively, we can resist it politically,” he said.

“If there is going to be restructuring in the country, first, we should change from the presidential system of government to parliamentary system, and in terms of institutions that are in charge of elections; we should abolish the State Independent Electoral Commissions and we should ban any party from contesting elections unless it has direct primary where all its members will come out and decide who is going to contest council chairmanship up to the presidency.

“The State Independent Electorate Commissions do the bidding of the state governors. I can give you a recent example in Kano. How could in Kano recently a PDP state, PDP failed to win even a council seat? Something is basically wrong.

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“So the manipulation of State Independent Electoral Commission is for me, today, the most dangerous threat to democracy in Nigeria. I have seen this now more or less in the light of 2018 where we are, one year to the election and politicians including governors, politicians from all levels here, I don’t make any exception, are trying to play to the gallery, in playing to the gallery, they are looking for votes.

“If we want Nigeria to be restructured, the only thing that is required is for us to call a sovereign national conference. It is the only conference that Nigeria has not experimented.”

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