Lawmaker: Call for Restructuring Game Plan of Opposition Political Party

• Confederating units key to restructuring, says vasity Don

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City and Ugo Aliogo
The Deputy Majority Whip and member representing Owan Federal constituency at the House Representatives, Mr. Pally Iriase, Tuesday declared that the demand for restructuring from different ethnic groups in the country was nothing but political game plan of the opposition party.

 The All Progressives Congress (APC) federal lawmaker from Edo State, who stated this while fielding questions from journalists in Benin-city, also urged Nigerians to remain calm over the seeming feud between the executive and the legislature arms.

 Iriase, who noted that the clamour for restructuring was an agenda by the opposition political party, however stated that Nigerians are a lot wiser to fall for ploy more so as the agitators were yet to give the form of restructuring they are talking about.

 According to him, “It is all noise and no serious substance for the call. It is an agenda set up by the opposition, and Nigerians must begin to ask questions. Nigerians must be aware of the gimmick of politicians.
“You are calling for restructuring when 90 per cent of the states are not viable. These people are yet to tell us what they want and what manner of restructuring they are talking about.

 “I look at the list of those leaders who come together in the name of group and geo-political zone and I see that they are mostly those who lost out in the last general elections.”

An Associate Lecturer, Department of Geography, University of Lagos, Dr. Nna Uluocha, yesterday said the confederation system of government is vital for the restructuring of the Nigeria, adding that there is need to decentralise the power of the central government because the federating units are weak.

 Uluocha who disclosed this at the International Conference of Department of European Languages and Integration Studies organised by the Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos, said there was an urgent need for restructuring because the country is not working on the principles of egalitarianism.

 The university don further stated that in a confederation arrangement, the resources that belong to each region are usually controlled by them without any interference from the centre, adding that the confederating units only pay tax to the central government.
Uluocha stressed that the country is operating a unitary system of government which he said does not augur well for the political advancement of the country.

He called on the federal government to take a cue from the United States model of a confederating system.
The university teacher appealed to the federal government to take urgent steps in addressing the issue of the relocation of the Igbo from the North on October 1, adding that there is need for dialogue and understanding between the warring factions in order to resolve the issue.

 Uluocha added: “We need to define the task of the federal government in terms of security. The federal government is in a better position to handle that. The confederation units on their path will have their regional assemblies where they will make their own regional laws.

 “The issue of governance is very important. In Nigeria today, governance is very weak. Everything is concentrated at the centre. Until the federal government release funds, many states would be suffering. We must remove the issue of state of origin. It is creating a big problem for us as a nation.”