A former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega, has said there is a need for the country
to embark on short-term restructuring before the general elections in 2023 to
address some of the challenges facing it.
He, however, accused the National Assembly and the federal
government of lacking the political will to restructure the country.
Jega stated this at the 2021 Public Lecture he delivered at
the Achievers University, Owo, Ondo State, on Tuesday evening titled, “Towards
stabilising the Nigeria federation.”
He blamed the National Assembly for pursuing constitutional
amendment instead of prioritising restructuring and focusing on addressing the
key challenges to power-sharing and resources distribution/allocation.
“This makes the process time-consuming, overly contentious
and controversial, and susceptible to filibuster, and likely derailment of the
entire undertaking.
He added, “…Leaving the very important business of
restructuring until very close to the next general elections has its own
challenges, given that Nigerian politicians tend to shy away from taking tough
decisions in the national interest, especially on seemingly controversial
issues, too close to general elections.”
The former INEC chair said it would be difficult to
restructure Nigeria if inflamed passion and antagonistic positions are allowed
to dominate national discourse.
“For all these, better management of ethnoreligious
diversity on the basis of rule of law, justice, equity and equality of
opportunity, is a necessary precondition. That is what a federal arrangement is
meant to ensure, but it is not, if truth is to be told, what the current
federal structure and practice of federalism in Nigeria provides,” he said.
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