From Magnus Eze, Abuja
Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has advised those campaigning for restructuring of the present federal structure to stop dissipating their energy as no amount of advocacy or agitation would lead to restructuring.
The AGF, who admitted that reforms and modifications of institutional arrangements, systems and processes were normal in federations world over, said they were not done in single swoop as advocated in Nigeria.
Speaking at the Think-Tank Conference on “Federalism and challenges of dynamic equilibrium in Nigeria: Towards a National Strategy,” organised by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), in Abuja, yesterday, Malami posited that mega changes are not healthy for federations.
“Change is a gradual exercise which must be democratic and subjected to legislative and administrative processes as provided by law. We must use democratic means to reform our federal system. We need to recognise that both federalism and democracy are mechanisms for managing diversity.
“Indeed, while federalism provides the institutional framework for managing diversity, democracy makes possible the negotiation of diverse identity claims, by providing them with representation, voice and political mechanisms by which their competing claims are balanced and reconciled, ” the AGF stated.
He said there was no true or false federalism anywhere in the world and added that each federation reflected the particular conditions and circumstances that produced it.
Malami pointed out that federalism was embedded in Nigeria’s Constitution as contained in sections 2, 3 and 5 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), and insisted that Nigerians must use democratic means to find solution to the numerous challenges bedevilling the country’s federal system.
The AGF said as far as constitutional democracy was concerned “the idea of restructuring is not a function of advocacy or agitation. It is about constitutional accommodation and/or alternative constitutional amendment.”
He said at present, restructuring required amending the constitution to accommodate referendum or, in the alternative, a constitutional amendment to the 1999 constitution, which, in this case, must be supported by majority of legislators in 24 States of the federation as enshrined in Section 9 of the Constitution.
He, however, expressed the fear that the inevitable implication that abolishing states through restructuring process will certainly translate to abolishing the State House of Assembly and, perhaps, downsizing the National Assembly, would hamper the process.
Earlier in his welcome address, Acting Director General of NIPPS, Mr. Jonathan Juma, said the conference was aimed at providing platform for problem-solving discourse on the myriad of challenges facing Nigeria’s federal system and eventually develop a national strategy for effective response to them.
We know you work for Buhari/North agenda. We know the north will prefer war than restructuring a lawless, corrupt and failed Nigerian State. Off-course Nigeria is beyond restructuring. It must be disintegrated because it is a failed and abominable contraption.
Those who make peaceful change impossible, make violent change inevitable. Nigeria is in for a long night. It’s Now or Never. Nigerians cannot be slaves in their own country in the name of obnoxious law and military imposed constitution. After all, law is made for man, man is not made for law. AGF is speaking balderdash! His comment is typical of what we have always heard from the northern oligarchy. But this time around, it will blow on their face.
You are talking like tin god, do u know tomorrow?. A fool in governmental position.
You are talking like a tin god, do u know tomorrow?. A fool in governmental position.
What do you expect from thé fulani man l’île abubakar mallami who reasons like his illiterate brother président Mohammed buhari by 2019 when people will boycout electioms they will understand. Biafra forme life.
Whether restructure or no restructure, whether true federalism or false federalism, wether reforms and modifications, all that we want is Biafra nothing more, nothing less. There will be no more nigeria election in Biafra land until the amendment of the constitution to accommodate referendum. The civilized world has decided that self-determination is inalienable right therefore there is no need for nigeria to continue advertizing their ignorance and stupidity with their useless unity sermon, just allow us to conduct a peaceful REFERENDUM as it’s done in every civilized society to determine the fate of Biafrans forcefully living in this murderous unwanted union call nigeria. While we are waiting for the amendment of the constitution to accommodate referendum there will be no nigeria election in Biafra land.
A deity has spoken. Hopefully his children at home took note. Under such a man Nigeria is dead.
The man is serving in a government that has restructuring in its election manifesto. Is he telling us, that part of the manifesto is cancelled or that All Promises Cancelled (APC)