By Wilfred Eya
The National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), has congratulated President Bola Tinubu on his recent victory at the Supreme Court and urged him to act on the manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and recommendations of the Nasir el-Rufai-led panel’s report on restructuring.
NADECO which led the struggle for the restoration of democracy in 1999, urged President Tinubu to prove beyond reasonable doubts that he remains faithful and committed to restoring the nation to the negotiated federal constitution.
National Publicity Secretary of NADECO, Mr. Ayo Opadokun said that Tinubu as a critical stakeholder in the highest structure of the coalition, who expended his resources and network together with others while in the trenches needs not be reminded that the current warped, skewed, and lopsided national structure must be reconfigured to give hope and a sense of belonging to all the citizens that they are equal joint stakeholders in the Nigerian Project.
In a statement, yesterday, Opadokun, who disowned NADECO USA, which he said was dissolved by NADECO’s late Leader, Chief Enahoro, in 1999, noted that it was time to face Nigeria’s socio-economic challenges headlong.
The statement read in part: “NADECO wishes to congratulate President Tinubu on his judicial victory confirmation by the Supreme Court of Nigeria in its October 26, 2023 verdict on the election petitions filed by political opponents against his declared victory by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC after the February 25, 2023 Presidential Election.
“Even though our preference was for the Nigerian State to first organize the necessary and desirable return to Federal Constitutional Governance upon which Nigeria secured her independence, we are gratified that the partisan politicians have locked horns, campaigned, contested, won and lost election and have exhausted all the legal remedies available for whatever redress they deemed fit in the circumstances of the elections.
“Now is the time to deliver the much-expected services in the socio-economic and political sphere through well thought out and rightly directed policies desirable to quickly alleviate the unacceptable level of suffering, poverty, economic misery and neglect to which Nigerians have been subjected by immediate past rulers and leaders, for many years now.
“While we strongly desire an immediate upliftment in the standard and quality of living of Nigerians, we expect much more than the necessary bread and butter economic gains.
“NADECO believes that the President Tinubu Government must equally prioritize the process of implementing the APC manifesto, particularly in Article 7, pages 3, 7, 29, 37.
“Under the aims and objectives of its article 7, the APC Constitution commits the party to firstly, promote and foster the unity, political stability and national consciousness of the people of Nigeria, and secondly, to promote true federalism in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“In the foreword to its vision for a New Nigeria (page 3, second paragraph), the APC Manifesto commits the party to ‘implement efficient public financial management strategies and ensure true federalism” as well as ‘restructure governance in a way that kick starts our political economy so that we can begin to walk the path of our better future.’
He added: “Also, in its manifesto (page 7), APC entered into an ‘Honest Contract’ with Nigeria to create a federalism with ‘more equitable distribution of national revenue to the states and local governments because this is where grassroots democracy and economic development must be established.
“In its Commitment to Restore Good Government (page 29, last paragraph), the APC Manifesto again stresses reliance on enhancing federalism through a two-pronged approach that consists of ‘devolving control of policing and local prisons to the states and giving the right to nominate State Police Commissioners to Governors;’ and Expanding the role of the Council of States to act as consultation and negotiating forum between the Federal and State governments to agree on joint economic and social initiatives.
“Under its promised Reforms and ‘a Government You Can Trust’ (page 37, last paragraph), the APC Manifesto pledges to ‘devolve more revenue and powers to the States and Local Governments so that decision making is closer to the people’ and pledge to ‘bring the government closer to the people through political decentralization including local policing.”
In the statement, NADECO noted that the El-Rufai Committee on Restructuring, which was set up by the APC recommended devolution of powers to states, resource control, making LGAs affairs of the states, constitutional amendments to allow merger of states, state police, state court of appeal, and independent candidacy among others.
According to NADECO, “The above were the promises upon which people voted for APC in 2015. Time is of the essence because the necessity for a return to federalism is a critical existential matter that has overall bearing as to the continued co-mutual existence of the country.”