El-Rufai’s Restructuring Committee Is Needless, Atiku Says

Adedoyin AdediwuraJuly 22, 2017

Atiku Abubakar has faulted the decision of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to set up a 10-man committee on restructuring under the leadership of Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai .

By Oladipupo Mojeed

Atiku Abubakar has faulted the decision of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to set up a 10-man committee on restructuring under the leadership of Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai .

The former Vice President, who faulted the move said the committee was needless.

He added that having an el-Rufai, who had earlier made his anti-restructuring stance known to head the committee, was laughable.

These positions were stated in a statement yesterday by the estranged Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Timi Frank.

“Governor El-Rufai has not hidden his opposition to the issue of restructuring since Nigerians began to remind us of our promise which is boldly written in our party’s promise book, hence the need to remove him because he does not believe in it.

“Kaduna State Governor has also called some of our leaders and former Head of State different names because of this issue. Kaduna State governor while speaking recently in an interview had described those calling for the restructuring of Nigeria as political opportunists and irresponsible.

“For the fact that restructuring is one of the promises in APC manifestoes, it will amount to deceit if the party reneges on its promise.

“The governors and the National Working Committee (NWC) should know that the promise of restructuring was one of the reasons Nigerians massively voted for the party in 2015.

“Therefore, such issue is non-negotiable and should be a priority that must be fulfilled. I see no reason for setting up a committee for something that is not negotiable at this time,” Timi Frank said.

Resource control

On his part, Atiku said “restructuring means making changes to our current federal structure so it comes closer to the vision of our founding fathers.

“It also means restructuring the very issues and challenges that led our founding fathers to opt for a less centralized system.

“The issue of restructuring is beyond resource control. My vision of restructuring will not make some states richer and others poorer. Restructuring is a win-win for all Nigerian states.

“If we are to grow our revenues we need to change the way we think of our resources and nurture them for the benefit of all. So let us start by not thinking as if our resources consist only of oil. Oil is not infinite.

“We must begin to look for other and more sustainable sources of income than oil.” We don’t understand what Nigerians mean by restructuring.