Why I’m not in support of states creation — Ozekhome
Why I’m not in support of states creation — Ozekhome
Tinubu has no legal foundation, Supreme Court order on direct funding of LGs enforceable, Ozekhome insists
Constitutional and human rights lawyer, Prof Mike Ozekhome, SAN, on Saturday maintained that most of the states that make up the Federal Republic of Nigeria today are not viable, and as such, he sees no reason for the creation of more states in the country.
Ozekhome, who blamed the conditions of the states on the “skewed federal template” being operated in the form of a unitary system of government, called for a complete overhaul of the 1999 Constitution.
According to him, the present Constitution is not only cumbersome, with the centre vested with too much power and responsibilities, but it was also a product of the military class which has ruled Nigeria for quite some time.
He spoke at a “Walk for Wellness” campaign embarked upon by the Mike Ozekhome Chambers (MOC) in Abuja on Saturday.
“Some of us are now saying rather than create more states we should collapse the present structure into about six geopolitical zones, which should serve as regional government.
“A parliamentary system of government operating on regional bases will be more beneficial to the people because it will catalyze development and competitiveness among the regions. Right now, no state is competing, all of them just go to Abuja at the end of the month to take from the federation account to share”, he said.
The senior lawyer lamented that Nigeria has become a sharing country which is not baking anything because they don’t care or even know how to bake anything.
According to him, while Nasarawa has the highest mineral deposits of over 36 items, followed by Plateau with 28 items, with Sokoto and Kaduna States in that order, the entire country still relies on crude oil “which is fast losing its value across the world.”
“I will suggest that, if we are to retain the state structure, we should retain the states as federating units, thus having two tiers of government, leaving local government to the states”, he said.
He added that, “the only state I will have said should be created right now should be in the South East, to bring them to equity with other geopolitical zones in the country.”
