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Reps promise to revisit devolution of powers

By Adamu Abuh (Abuja), Gbenga Salau (Lagos) and Akin Alofetekun (Minna)
27 September 2017   |   4:19 am
The House of Representatives has pledged to revisit the burning issue revolving around the clamour for the devolution of powers from the Federal Government to the 36 states of the country.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara

• APC in support of move, says Odigie-Oyegun
• Ambode assures of Lagos commitment to restructuring
• Activist accuses party’s leadership of double-speak

The House of Representatives has pledged to revisit the burning issue revolving around the clamour for the devolution of powers from the Federal Government to the 36 states of the country.

Members of the lower legislative chamber, who reconvened yesterday after a two-month recess, resolved to set up a high-powered committee to liaise with all stakeholders across the six geo-political zones in the country to explore practical solutions to ensure a robust and united Nigeria.

The resolution followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by the House Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, at the plenary session with Speaker Yakubu Dogara presiding.

Gbajabiamila stated that there was need for the House to intervene in view of the divergent views on the suitability of redefining the structures upon which the unity of Nigeria rests on.

Dogara said the issues revolving around the restructuring of the country could only be resolved within the ambit of the law.Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, says the party is committed to ensuring devolution of powers and resources in the federation.

Odigie-Oyegun, who said this when he received a delegation of the Nigerian Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) at the party’s national secretariat, noted that the issue was among the critical ones canvassed by the various political parties that formed the APC in 2013.

In another development, Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has said that the state’s position on restructuring aligns perfectly well with the party’s own, which stated that power would be devolved.

Ambode, who spoke at the unveiling of the statue of Chief Obafemi Awolowo at the intersection of Lateef Jakande/Obafemi Awolowo Way, said: “In the same corollary, the position of Lagos State on restructuring remains the same as stipulated in the manifesto of our great party, which states, “the APC shall initiate action to amend our constitution with a view to devolving powers, duties and responsibilities to states and local councils to entrench true federalism and the federal spirit.”

He said Awolowo was a symbol to the aspiration of Western Nigeria and Lagos territory during his days, as his achievements at the helm of affairs in Western Nigeria, gave Lagos and the region supremacy.

However, a Minna-based human rights activist, Mr. Mfon Akpakpan Udo, in an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, a copy of which was made available to journalists in Minna yesterday, has described the leaders of the ruling APC as masters of double-speak.He said the alleged disparaging of the former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is nothing but hate-speech.

In an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, a copy of which was made available to journalists in Minna yesterday, Udo said that the alleged castigation of the former vice president was also having negative effect on the image of the party and the country.

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