The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has described the Constitution Amendment process in the National Assembly (NASS) as a confirmation of what President Muhammadu Buhari has always told advocates of restructuring.
The group said in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, that the open and transparent legislative process showed that the President was right all along in his messaging.
“We recall how, about six months ago, the President at two different occasions told guests at State House that the contentious issue of restructuring or devolution of powers is a constitutional matter that only the National Assembly can deal with.
“The first set of visitors were members of the Nigerian Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) led by Co-Chairmen, Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar and the President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Supo Ayokunle while the second was a delegation from the Ijaw National Congress (INC) led by Professor Benjamin Okaba.
“The kernel of President Buhari’s message, which was a reply to demands by some socio-cultural groups that he restructures the country, was that he remained an ‘unapologetic believer in devolving power to the people’ which is why he signed the Executive Order granting autonomy to State Legislature and Judiciary.
“And even though the move was resisted at State level until the Supreme Court voided the EO, it is gratifying that it is among the 46 proposals out of the original 68 which scaled through”, the statement added.
BMO also urged advocates of restructuring to brace up to engage the States’ Houses of Assembly now that federal lawmakers have completed their own side of the constitutional amendment process.
“With the conclusion of the first stage of the process, the ball is now firmly in the court of States’ lawmakers, especially as at least two-thirds of 36 States are expected to pass the bill before it is returned to the National Assembly for the final stage.
“So we believe it won’t be out of place for those who want restructuring to take their advocacy to the States if they are truly serious about having some level of power devolved to the States from the centre
“Having gone through the list of the proposals that scaled through in the National Assembly, we noticed that a number of items including VAT, airports, prisons and railways were moved from Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent list.
“The onus is now on States’ Houses of Assembly to live up to expectations by ensuring that the proposals, including those that have to do with devolving powers to the sub-national, scale through.
“But for now, the 9th National Assembly deserves praise for proving cynics wrong”.
BMO again reaffirmed its belief that President Buhari would leave the country better than he met it.
