Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega called for restructuring of the federation before the 2027 election circle.
The former INEC chairman who was a guest lecturer at the maiden (merged) convocation of the Bauchi State University, Gadau on Friday, spoke on the theme: “Safeguarding Nigeria’s Future: Prioritizing Citizen’s Welfare and Security Amidst Challenges”. He said argued that he didn’t believe Nigeria is a failed state but “a failing state”.
“Before 2027, some restructuring of the Nigerian federation should be embarked upon through evidence-based constitutional reforms, the objectives of which should be to deconcentrate powers and resources from the federal tier and to spread them to those of the state and local governments,” he said.
Jega urged the Nigerian leaders to learn from the “best practices” model federations, such as India, Canada and the USA in the areas of revenue generation and sharing and adapted to our local context and circumstances.
“Just like the structure of the Nigerian federation, the structure of the Nigerian economy has a colonial origin, primary designed to meet up with, and satisfy, the economic interests of the colonial powers. Long after colonial rule has ended, the structure has embedded and integrated the Nigerian economy into the global capitalist system, such that it continues to promote primary commodity production, and export primarily to Europe, and import of finished products from all parts of the world, rather than commodity production through industrial production and manufacturing for both the home market and export.
“No additional states and LGAs should be created. The additional resources current states would get from the de-concentration of power and resources as recommended above would make all the 37 states and FCT financially viable and facilitative of grassroots development.
“The cost of governance at both the federal, state and local tiers of governance need to be drastically cut, and measures introduced to entrench transparency and accountability and effective anti-corruption oversight.
“With regards to the structure of the Nigerian economy, the following recommendations are offered: Serious reform measures need to be introduced to diversify Nigeria’s earnings from dependence of export of crude oil, to expand investment in agricultural production and Agro-allied processing both for the home market and for export; and revive, expand and reposition our industries and manufacturing enterprises, for production, both for the home-market and for export,” he said.
The former INEC Chairman said that conceive of and pursue economic growth and people-oriented development strategies, independent of the influence of IMF and the World Bank, relying of implementable development plans, which are realistically implementable within delineated time-frame.
He urged the government to reform the country’s fiscal and monetary policies to strengthen our productive enterprises, human capital and currency. Also, to conceive of and implement employment generation as well as entrepreneurship development strategies to help constructively address the youth bulge in Nigeria
“Nigeria should become more actively involved in south-south cooperation and development initiatives, in particular, in the BRICS+.
“With regards to addressing systemic and governance challenges, it is recommended as follows: Amend the Electoral Act 2022, so as to remarkably to improve upon the legal framework for future elections with integrity. In particular pay attention to reforming the role of political parties in the leadership recruitment and candidate selection processes.
“Pursue reforms to improve and protect the integrity of the judiciary, as well as find a way of insulating them from the corruptive politics of electoral dispute resolution through litigation.
“Improve the process of appointment into INEC with a view to protecting it from capture by crooked politicians and partisan pressures and influences. Strengthen and expand the scope of the work of anti-corruption agencies and institutions to mitigate the damaging impact of corruption in the Nigerian political economy.
“Institute and initiate reform measures that would ensure not only substantial reduction in the cost of governance at all levels, but also effective and transparent preparation, monitoring and implementation of budgets, as well as policies and projects.”
