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In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, the governor called on the Federal Government to ensure justice and equity in the distribution of resources in the country.
He expressed dissatisfaction with the current “lopsided federal structure where the Federal Government takes resources from states and decides what is given to each state at the end of every month.”
The governor said if the country were allowed to practise true federalism, it would enable the states as federating units to control their resources and contribute to the central government.
He also expressed his belief that Nigeria would be a better nation if justice and equity prevail with every state having abundant resources that could be harnessed for the development of the most populous black nation.
Diri called for amendment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) for upward review of the three per cent to oil host communities to 10 per cent, as well as inclusion of states and local councils as trustees.
Describing the Act as a recipe for anarchy in the oil-rich area, the governor said the exclusion of states and local governments in the implementation of the law would give room for “unscrupulous elements to capitalise on the loopholes and cause crisis in communities, as it would be difficult to determine host communities.”
In a statement yesterday in Enugu by its Patron, Prof. Obasi Igwe, Chairman, Prince Okey-Joe Onuakalusi and Secretary, Dr, Kenneth Nwankwo, EIC maintained that Nigeria, as currently constituted, cannot be sustained.
It further stated that the country could only become a dream country when the “North ceases to pay lip service to the call for restructuring.”
The group stressed that there cannot be a “united Nigeria until a veritable demonstration of the entrenchment of true federalism, by way of restructuring and devolution, into the Nigerian system, as is the case in the United States of America (USA) is achieved.”
