A draft bill proposing Nigeria’s return to a regional government structure will be presented to President Bola Tinubu on Friday.
The proposed law, “A Bill for an Act to substitute the annexure to Decree 24 of 1999 with New Governance Model for the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” was written by chieftain Akin Fapohunda of the Yoruba socio-cultural association. Among other things, it calls for new laws to be cited as “The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria New Governance Model for Nigeria Act 2024.”
The House of Representatives disowned the bill, according to Akin Rotimi, the spokesman, and the chairman of the Committee on Rules and Business, who stated that it had not been included for discussion in the ongoing efforts to revise the 1999 Constitution (as modified).
On Thursday, our correspondent was informed by Fapohunda that the law would be forwarded to the President on Friday.
He informed our correspondent, “I’m sending in my letter (draft bill) today, but I won’t make it public for seven days.”
The Coalition of Indigenous Ethnic Nationalities is recommending that the nation be divided into eight geopolitical zones, each with roughly defined interim borders, according to Fapohunda, who also represents the group.
The areas that have been suggested. according to Fapohunda. include the southern region to be made up of Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, and Cross Rivers States and “Optional inclusions of the Annang, Effik, Ekoi, Ibibio, Oro Ohaji/Egbema in Southern Imo, the Adonia, Efemia, Ijaw, Ogoni, Bini, Ishan, Isoko, Urhobo and the Ijaw-speaking people in Northern Ondo State with land contiguity.”
“The South Eastern region comprises the states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo,” he went on. The Yoruba-speaking Kogi people and the Igbomina people of Kwara State are included in the Western area, which also includes the states of Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, and Ekiti. The Itsekiri people of Delta State and the Akoko-Edo people of Edo State would have additional alternatives to choose from.
The Mid-Western Region, which consists of the Edo and Delta States and may also contain the Anioma people, is one of the others. The Eastern Middle Belt Region, which includes the Northern Cross River, Southern Kaduna, Southern Borno, Adamawa, Benue, Kogi, Plateau, Nasarawa, and Taraba States, is another.
Parts of Borno, Gombe, Bauchi, Jigawa, and Yobe States will make up the North Eastern Region, while Southern Kebbi, parts of Kwara, and Niger States compose the Western Middle Belt Region.
The Afenifere chieftain defined the North Western Region as Kaduna plus portions of Kebbi, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, and Zamfara States.
The coalition, according to Fapohunda, intended to establish a federal government and regional governments, with the latter free to conduct its own affairs, “including the creation of sub-entities, based on the stipulations that are agreed upon and embedded in their respective constitutions.”
According to CIEN’s proposed governance requirements, “As part of the effort to reorganize and reduce, one possibility to take into account could be to keep the current boundaries of the 36 States as would have been modified, but to ingeniously downgrade the political administration apparatus as follows:
“To establish a new regional government structure featuring bodies headed by the Premier and executive and legislative powers.”
The current States—for instance, the six in the West—would become provinces under the new system. Provincial Councils, which combine legislative and executive branches, will be in charge at this level. They will be headed by a chairman and support specialist administrative officers. Provinces may be established by the regions, if they are viable and self-sufficient.
The current Local Government Areas will be divided into divisions to function as institutions for socioeconomic development, with divisional managers and specialized administrative staff. In addition, the newly formed provinces will have the freedom to divide, provided that they are viable and self-sufficient.
A new constitution that would include novelties such as allowing regions to “create, merge, and or re-configure their sub-political units and may adopt provinces, divisions, or districts as may suit their circumstances without interference from any other authority” was another proposal put up by the coalition.
In order to lower the cost of public and civil service management to less than 20 to 30 percent of revenue generated, regions and sub-regional institutions must be reorganized.
The people of the many regional territories will follow suit and demolish any structure or configuration that benefits the politicians and political class when crafting their own constitutions, with an emphasis on allocating resources for real growth.
“A unicameral federal legislature with members chosen by their respective home regions to serve as representatives in Abuja.
Decentralization of federal authority to no more than ten areas supported by broad national agreement, as opposed to the current awkward 36 States. It is true that these ancient States have little bearing on the functioning of a genuinely federal form of governance.
