The Coordinator of the group, Femi Odedeyi, said the various Nigerian constitutions, since 1979, were not people-oriented.
The statement read: “For the Yoruba, this will be the Yoruba Referendum, as proposed by the Yoruba Referendum Committee. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is currently the dominant political party in Yorubaland, with legislative and executive powers in its hands. The party is, therefore, presently well-suited to endorse the Yoruba Referendum, as the route towards re-federalising Nigeria.”
The group called on the State Houses of Assembly in Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti and Oyo to pass the Bill on Referendum into law.
It said Yoruba Referendum would provide a direct, practical, and achievable pathway because “the 1999 Constitution neither conferred upon nor denied the State legislatures the capability and capacity to organise such a referendum.”
“Referendum question is a ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ as to whether the states should ‘federate’ into a regional administration with a Constitutional Commission that will negotiate on behalf of Yorubaland.
“This Constitutional Commission will legitimately and legally resolve two issues simultaneously, to wit: it will provide the basis for negotiating with other peoples and nationalities in Nigeria.”
“The committee believes passing the Bill into law and conducting the Yoruba Referendum by December 2022, will become the vehicle for engaging any incoming administration towards a Constitutional Conference to arrive at a new Federal Constitution for Nigeria.”
“Indeed, it will galvanise the people towards their aspirations.”
It further said the process of amending the 1999 Constitution abridged true federalism in that the required concurrence of 24 states already vitiates True Federalism.
