A former governor of Ogun state and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Olusegun Osoba said Wednesday that President Muhammmadu Buhari has endorsed the report of the committee on the restructuring of the country headed by Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state.
Osoba said this while fielding questions from State House correspondents after presenting to the president a copy of his book titled, Battlelines: Adventures in Journalism and Politics.
He said the APC had devolution of powers from federal to state governments enshrined in its manifesto.
“I am one of the founders of APC, I would not discuss in details because I have access, I am part of the presidency because the president is our president. But I can tell you, all this noise about restructuring, we APC put devolution of power, true federalism in our manifesto and we’ve moved far from there to where a committee was set up headed by the governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai.
“That committee has submitted its report, that report has been presented to us in the caucus and the president was there, the president endorsed the outcome. I want Nigerians to please, give us time. I hope and pray that at the right time, the government or the party would send that report to National Assembly for debate.
“I would say with all authority that restructuring lies with National Assembly. The president is not a military president, he cannot change anything by decree, sovereignty in Nigeria now is vested in the National Assembly. Those agitating for sovereign national conference must go through the National Assembly and unless the National Assembly surrenders part of its powers by an Act, there can never be sovereign nations conference,” he said.
Osoba said the agitations for referendum should be directed at the National Assembly and not the president.
“It’s not the president that would, by fiat or by executive order, order for referendum. It must go through the National Assembly and that is why I plead with our elders: Pa Edwin Clark, Pa Adbanjo, Professor Banji Akintoyin, all across Nigeria, they met the 8th Senate and they heard what that National Assembly has done in terms of the review of the constitution.
“They should come back and tell us! We can no move forward until we recognize the importance and the powers vested in the National Assembly. And for restructuring, let us go through the legal route,” he said.
