Human rights activist and a Senior Advocate of
Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, on Thursday berated the All Progressives Congress
(APC)-led government for failing to fulfill its campaign manifesto of returning
Nigeria to true federalism.
Falana stated this in Akure, Ondo State capital,
while delivering a lecture organised by the Ondo State Government as part of
activities to celebrate the third year of Oluwaroyimi Akeredolu as the governor
of the state.
The lecture entitled: ‘The Nigerian Federalism Imbroglio:
A Paradigm Approach’, was held at the Ondo State International Event Centre, and
was graced by dignitaries from all walks of lives, including traditional
rulers, political leaders and people from the corporate world.
Specifically, Falana said: "APC declared in
its manifesto that it would return Nigeria to true federalism if elected, but
five years later, we are still waiting for that to happen.”
The human rights activist, who highlighted some
developments that took place in three former regions when federalism was
practiced, said developments cannot take place in the country until it returns
to true federalism.
He berated the current situation where state
governments go to Abuja every month to collect money, which is not even enough
to embark on developmental projects.
The lecturer challenged governors to be creative
and create impact in their people.
According to the SAN, "You are not creating
wealth. What the governors do in Abuja is to share crumbs from the master's
table, and what you share to us is poverty.
"You governors fail to demand what is due to
your states from Federation Account. Power of state and local governments had
been abdicated to the federal government."
Falana said governors must, therefore, demand new
revenue formula to take care of responsibilities of federal government in their
states.
He said this became imperative in view of the
declaration of the federal government that it would no longer reimburse states
for repair or constructing federal roads.
The lecturer lamented that the federal government
had been usurping duties of states and local governments, which should not
happen under federalism guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria 1999.
"The federal government award contracts for
building of toilets. It has no business building toilets. State government
should demand that the federal government should release the money to states to
build such toilets.
"The federal government has nothing to do with
agriculture and natural resources.
"Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) should therefore
prepare to fight the battle as it has nothing to do with party affiliation,"
Falana said.
No comments:
Post a Comment