The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum, on Friday, raised the alarm that the security of Nigerians was no longer guaranteed under the President Muhammadu Buhari –led administration as the nation drifts into a failed state.
The forum which is an umbrella body of governors elected under the platform of the PDP, said there is an urgent need for devolution of powers and restructuring of the country in a way that could bring the various groups and tendencies together, as the nation cannot afford another civil war.
The governors who met in Makurdi, Benue State capital, maintained that the time has come to take advantage of the constitutional amendment process to decentralize the security apparatus of the nation to involve the states and local governments.
In a communiqué read at the end of the meeting by chairman of the Forum and Sokoto State governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, the governors expressed worry over the alarming drift of the nation, which they said, will make Nigeria a failed State under the watch of the All Progressives Congress, APC, if allowed to continue.
They expressed concern at the deteriorating relationship between groups in the country, dismayed that all the front lines and differences have been stretched to a limit by a government that lacked the ability to govern.
“The meeting noted that this has given rise to ethnic and tribal tensions, religious division and various forms of social and political cleavages while concluding that Nigeria is dire need of leadership at all federal levels to avert the looming disaster.
“The meeting is similarly alarmed that the security of Nigerians is no longer guaranteed under the present government as a result of leadership incompetence and mismanagement of our nation affair.
“We note that governors have a role to play in building some of the bordering situation but their hands are tied behind their backs as the entire security authority is monopolized by the APC government”.
The governors called for a more transparent and accountable management of affairs at the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC, and a review of the revenue allocation formula.
“We call on the Revenue Allocation and Fiscal Commission to sends new revised revenue formula to allocate more resources to states and local governments to Mr. President for onward transmission to the National Assembly.
“It is a scandal that 21 years after the 1999 constitution came into being, no new revenue is in place. Furthermore, the meeting called for more accountable running if the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
“We condemn the double standard played by APC-led Federal Government to intimidate PDP controlled States. To this end, we call on the president to lift the ban on the no fly zone and other intimidation tactics imposed on Zamfara State as similar measures have not been imposed on States like Kaduna, Borno, Yibe and others. This is politically motivated to ensure that the governors move to the APC”.
They noted that the APC which had been unable to have a democratically elected national executive committee as required by the constitution from the ward to national level has no business running the affairs of our country.
“We are distressed that Nigeria is a country with the highest unemployment rate of 33 percent under a disastrous leadership of the APC. This follows on the heels of a country with the highest poverty rate; it is indeed a race to the bottom. We enjoin Nigerians once again, to have their trust in the PDP as the effective vehicle to salvage the country”.
