APC Govs to Implement Cttee’s Report on True Federalism Soon, Says Bagudu
POLITICS DIGEST – Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu, on Thursday stated that the recommendations of Governor Nasir el-Rufai Committee on True Federalism will soon be implemented by governors within the camp of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF).
Delivering his address as the chairman of the 3rd anniversary lecture and book presentation of the Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu’s administration in Akure, the Ondo State capital, Bagudu said his colleagues are committed to implementing the report.
Bagudu, who is the chairman of PGF which comprised governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said the Forum had set up a Governance Programme Steering Committee headed by Governor Mohammed Badaru of Jigawa State to evolve a common governance template for themselves.
Read Also:
The key recommendations of the el-Rufai-led committee are the implementation of resource control, constitutional amendment to allow merger of states, state police, state courts of appeal, independent candidacy and making local government a state affair.
The governor also used the occasion to commend Akeredolu’s strides in Ondo State.
“Akeredolu will not give excuses, but will make do with the little to transform his state. So, I wasn’t surprised when Mr. President commended his investment stride.
“Ondo State is lucky to have him as a governor. We are proud of him. On behalf of the PGF, I say to Ondo State that you have a forthright person who speaks his mind at all times,” he said.
Delivering the anniversary lecture titled, ‘The Nigerian Federalism Imbroglio: A Pragmatic Approach’, human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) emphasized that the major cause of the underdevelopment in Nigeria was due to the privatization of government’s established industries.
He said: “We have invested so much in the energy sector, power but today we are suffering. Where are we today? Our government has sold generation companies and a minister under former President Goodluck Jonathan administration said we sold them to our friends and thereafter we start having problems.”
