THE Federal Government has been warned to be wary of clamping down on agitators of restructuring or do so to entrench the culture of monumental violence and disunity that could drown the country.
The warning came sequel to the President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent national broadcast that only the National Assembly could give a nod to the agitation for restructuring of the country and the call on the armed forces to clamp down on agitators.
A Warri-based lawyer and human rights activist, Oghenejabor Ikimi, gave the warning in a statement made available to journalists on Sunday in Warri, Delta State.
“Let me advice here as a patriotic Nigerian that restructuring will correct all the apparent errors in our present polity and disarm all separatist agitations/groups nationwide and any attempt by the Presidency to ignore the above by clamping down on agitators of restructuring nationwide could be counter-productive as the Presidency and her security agencies would have succeeded in entrenching the culture of violence and disunity in our public life as a nation. God forbid!” he warned.
He noted that the presidency’s statement only the National Assembly and the Council of State could handle agitations for restructuring and other constitutional changes in the country was untrue.
According to Ikimi, in line with the submission of Southern Leaders Forum, the two bodies, the National Assembly and the Council of State are not the appropriate bodies to discuss the social contract that could bind Nigerians together as a nation including the restructuring of the country along the lines of true fiscal federalism within the present democratic framework.
He disclosed that President Buhari possess and should use his constitutional powers to initiate a national discourses including the agitation for restructuring.
“Finally, I wish to pontificate without mincing words that President Muhammadu Buhari, by virtue of his position as Head of State, the Chief Executive of the Federation and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation vested with executive powers of the Federation in accordance with Sections 5(1)(a) and 130(1) & (2) of the 1999 Constitution as amended has the constitutional powers and fiat to initiate any national discourse on the social contract that could bind us together as a nation including but not limited to the vex issue of restructuring our nation along the lines of true fiscal federalism within our present democratic framework via a Constituent Assembly or a Constitutional Conference in a bid to producing a brand new people-oriented constitution to guarantee unity, peace and progress in our country, ” the fiery lawyer submitted.
The legal practitioner, who’s the executive president of the Centre for the Vulnerable and the Underprivileged (CENTREP), however, took a swipe on some individuals labelling President Buhari as an enemy of the country on the social media, describing such comments as being made “in bad taste and I condemn same as satanic.”