Why politicians resist restructuring ― Chris Okotie

Chris Okotie

Interim government campaigner, Rev Chris Okotie, has revealed why the widespread agitation for restructuring has been difficult to actualise.

Speaking as a guest on Fact File, a popular phone-in programme on Ray Power 100.5 FM, to mark International Democracy Day recently in Lagos, the cleric blamed selfish political leaders for holding the country to ransom.

Okotie said: “Our democratic process has merely favoured some people, politicians in particular, while the Nigerian people have just not benefitted from it in any way.”

On what to do to remedy the situation, Okotie told his interviewer: “What must be done is to set up an interim government that would rectify all the aberrations and the abnormalities within the Nigerian society.

“Politically, there would be restructuring, so that our democracy could take a sound footing.”

On how the interim government proposition could be actualised, when those who could change things are the ones opposed to the required change, Okotie said, “This is the irony of the situation. This is because no extant government would enter into an interim arrangement where they would scheme themselves out of the realm of power. It’s not going to happen. So, the kind of interim government we are projecting would enable Nigerians to come together and decide how they want to be governed.”

He said, “People want to know how they are going to control their resources, and what parameters would be set in this new association to achieve our collective goals.”

Okotie justified his call for political leaders nominated for the forthcoming presidential election to temporize and ensure some kind of hiatus to allow the perennial challenges that beset the country to be comprehensively addressed in a just and holistic manner by an interim government, with no vested interest beyond the unity and peace of Nigeria, before the country could proceed with any electoral process.

The Reverend argued that the concept of democracy enshrined in the present constitution is deceptive because true federalism involves the manipulation of centripetal and centrifugal forces and how they interact.

“This is lacking in our constitution,” Okotie said.

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