Kano and Katsina states have kicked against devolution of central government power, saying the federal government should rather be strengthening financially to ensure effective service delivery.
Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano state and his counterpart of Katsina state, Aminu Bello Masari made the stands of the two states known while addressing a mammoth crowd at the zonal public hearing on true federalism organised by the All Progressive Congress (APC), held in Kano yesterday.
Governor Ganduje of Kano state, who personally submitted the Kano’s memorandum, opined that the ongoing clamor for the agitation of true federalism should not be constituted in such a way to weaken the federal government.
Ganduje said, “Federal government should rather be funded with adequate resources to bring development and ensure even spread and balance economy that will make Nigeria a strong country. We must not support anything that will encourage disaffection and disintegration in Nigeria.”
Katsina state Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, said Nigerian needs no devaluation of the central government, saying “We have inherited unitary system of government and for us to change it we must address some fundamental issues which we have not addressed now.
Masari said what the country need at present was a strong central government, as the country had not address some fundamental issues that would pave way for devaluating the central government.
“What we should ask ourselves is that, have we achieved the purposes for the creation of local governments? Are purposes for the creation of more states been achieved? If not, why? So, these are some of the issues we need to address first.
“We also have some peculiar problems that are affecting our lives. The problems affecting Kano people are also affecting the people of Zamfara, Jigawa, Kaduna, Sokoto and Kebbi states and we should therefore consider this in our submissions. Leaders at various levels must come up with something that will improve the lives of their subjects. We must work together towards getting it right,” Masari said.
However, Jigawa state government in its submission supported devaluation of power of central government, creation of state police, independent candidate and local government autonomy.
Submitting its memorandum, the Jigawa state’s Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Adamu Abdulkadir Fanani, said certain powers of the federal government especially in the areas of agriculture, education and health should be referred to state governments.
Fanani also said autonomy should be given to local government and allocations to states and local governments be increased to enable them serve their people better.
In his address, the Plateau state Governor and Chairman of the APC re-structuring committee, Simon Bako Lalong, said the meeting was aimed at collating memorandums regarding restructuring for onward presentation to the government.
Represented by former Enugu state governor, Chief Sillevan Chime, Lalong said the meeting was part of APC’s campaign promises to carry everyone along in government activities.
He said, “We expect to hear from people if they really need any restructuring of Nigeria and if they want, how it should be done. I appealed to you to submit useful and self-explanatory memorandums. I can assure you that we will consider all submission and advise government appropriately”
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