News

Nigerian Senators Clash Over Regional Government Proposal

Published

1 year ago

September 29, 2024

Nigerian Senators from both Southern and Northern regions have expressed differing views over the agitation for the return to a regional system of government.

They shared their opinions at the sidelines of a two-day retreat on the amendments to the 1999 Constitution, organized by the Senate Committee on Constitution Review in collaboration with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) in Kano.

While senators from the northern region vehemently opposed the idea, those from southern Nigeria described it as a welcome development that would improve the economy, tackle insecurity, and accelerate infrastructural development.

However, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, assured Nigerians that the issue of regionalism was not part of the ongoing constitution review.

A ranking senator from Bauchi Central Senatorial District, Abdul Ningi, told journalists that his people would never support the idea because they did not experience any form of development when the system was practiced during the defunct First Republic.

Ningi said, “I have heard so much about regional government or federalism, and I have heard people canvassing for such ideas.

“For a start, no matter how you see it, the current document (1999 Constitution) is still the grundnorm. It has also stipulated how it is going to be amended.

“Having said that, it is also imperative to know that it isn’t just enough for anybody to come and say they are the representative of one ethnic group or another at the National Assembly.

“The question that arises is: when was this mandate canvassed? When was it received? You are a representative of a particular ethnic group in Nigeria, at what time were you given the mandate to canvass that?

“The only people that are given this mandate to look at the Constitution and amend it are, of course, members of the National Assembly.

“Therefore, it is important for those who go about selling these ideas, false ideas in my opinion, that they are representatives of the people, to let Nigerians know where they are coming from, on whose mandate, and when was this mandate given to them.

“We have seen how the regional government was operated in the past. My part of the country that I am representing didn’t enjoy the development of that so-called regional government that was based in Kaduna.

“We aren’t going back there again! I am speaking for my senatorial district. It is either the Nigerian Federation or nothing. We can’t go along; my senatorial district will be satisfied independently with Nigeria, if that is what is required.

“As far as regional government is concerned, my constituency, my people aren’t for it. What we need is reform of the current Federal Government structure and fiscal federalism because there is nothing like true federalism.”

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, advised Nigerians against mistaking the establishment of zonal development commissions for regionalism.

He said the various geopolitical zonal development commissions were strictly for the social and economic development of their areas.

He said, “It is wrong for anybody to think that the development commissions being established for the six geopolitical zones are a plan towards regionalism. It is not.

“Those who are advocating for it should come up with bills through their representatives in the National Assembly and test the popularity of their proposal.”

Similarly, former Senate Leader Ali Ndume said the idea of true federalism was no longer fashionable because many countries in Africa had discarded it.

He advocated for the creation of strong institutions that would enhance good governance and curb corruption and insecurity.

“When the government puts these in place, there won’t be clamour for true federalism because there will be justice, equity, and fairness in all regions of the country.”

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TetFund, Senator Muntari Dandutse, representing Katsina South Senatorial District, also disagreed with the proponents of regional government.

He said the essence of the ongoing retreat was to improve on the defects and anomalies discovered in the nation’s constitution over the years.

He said, “We should not have myopic thinking about ourselves. There is no section of this country that is not blessed.

“What is important is that we should have good governance and credible and responsible access to the resources that we have because Nigeria is blessed.

“We have all the comparative advantages that will move this country forward unless, of course, we are serious and determined.”

However, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari, representing Oyo North Senatorial District, disagreed with those condemning the regional system of government.

Buhari said, “Recall that the regions were able to harness their resources in the First Republic.

“We were able to harness all our resources. There was no dominance of particular resources.

“In those years, the North was known for the groundnut pyramids, the South West for cocoa. We should be able to do that.

“When you make the center less attractive, you cut off corruption. You can’t wipe it off, but you can cut it down, because there is what is called ‘watch your team.’ People will watch their team within their locality or within their region.”

Asked whether the South West region had a specific agenda for the ongoing constitution review, Buhari said it would be presented at the appropriate time.

He said, “We don’t want to disclose that agenda yet, but we have agreed among ourselves that the person who will present it is the Chairman of the South West Forum when the time comes. It would be very unfair for me now as a member to start discussing that.”

However, the Senate Leader emphasized that the issue of regionalism could not be changed through a constitutional amendment.

He said, “There are some decisions in the state where an executive bill cannot come to the parliament unless there is some political consensus.

“For me, going back to a regional form of governance is something that will go beyond a bill being sponsored, either as a member’s bill or as an executive bill.

“It’s also not something that you sit down in a public hearing room and organize a public hearing to take a decision on.

“An example is when people say, ‘Oh, you are in parliament. As a parliament, you cannot discard the entire constitution. Nigeria needs a new constitution because this one cannot work.’

“It’s easy for people to make such arguments, but that is not something we can sit down in parliament and do.

“We aren’t changing the constitution because that would require political consensus, and it would also require the buy-in of the Nigerian people themselves.

“Why is it so difficult to amend even one section of the constitution, let alone discard the entire constitution?

“To amend a single provision in the constitution today, the National Assembly and all chambers have to go through this entire process, which we go through in every legislative assembly, and many of you have been a part of this process.”

News

Four Dead, Three Injured As Bus Collides With Truck In Ogun

Published

14 minutes ago

October 28, 2025

Editor

A teenager and three others died in a crash that happened when a bus hit a breakdown truck at Alagbon along Owode-Atan Road in Ogun State.

Three other persons also sustained varying degrees of injuries from the accident.

The crash involved a Sinotruck with no registration number and a white Suzuki minibus with registration Number KTU 874 YJ.

Spokesperson of the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), Babatunde Akinbiyi, confirmed this to newsmen in a statement on Tuesday.

Akinbiyi said that 11 people (two males and nine females) were involved in the accident, while three people (one male and two females) sustained injuries. He said four people (one male, two female adults and one teenager) died.

He blamed the crash on both drivers, saying the bus driver wouldn’t have rammed into the cement-loaded breakdown truck if the truck driver had posted a caution sign on the road.

The TRACE Image Maker said that the injured victims had been taken to General Hospital, Idi-Iroki, by operatives of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) before the arrival of its officers.

He said that the accident vehicles had been towed away and the traffic initially affected had been restored.

In other news, The Guardian reported that a pregnant woman was killed in a fatal auto crash along the Sagamu Expressway corridor in Ogun State. The accident, which left several others injured, involved a payloader, a Toyota Camry with registration number AAB-248 MK, and a commercial tricycle marked JGB-643 VD.

Spokesperson for the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, Babatunde Akinbiyi, confirmed the incident to newsmen. He said the crash occurred when the driver of the Toyota Camry lost control of the vehicle, veered off his lane, and rammed into a moving tricycle, killing the pregnant woman instantly.

According to Akinbiyi, the payloader operator, the Camry driver, and other male passengers sustained varying degrees of injuries. He added that the injured victims were taken to nearby hospitals in Sagamu by passers-by, while the body of the deceased was deposited at an undisclosed morgue.

News

Edo Gives Ex-deputy Gov One Week To Return State Assets

Published

23 minutes ago

October 28, 2025

Editor

The Edo State Government has issued a one-week ultimatum to a former deputy governor of the, Godwin Omobayo, to immediately return all government property and assets still in his possession.

Fred Itua, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Monday Okpebholo in a statement on Tuesday said all assets acquired or used by Omobayo in the course of public service remain state property and must be returned upon leaving office.

The statement read, “The government has observed with dismay that several official items, including vehicles, documents, and other state-owned assets assigned to Mr Omobayo during his brief and illegitimate tenure, are yet to be surrendered to the appropriate authorities, despite multiple formal reminders.

“The continued retention of such property constitutes a clear breach of public trust and unlawful possession of state assets.

“The Edo State Government reiterates that all assets acquired or utilised in the course of public service remain the property of the State and must be duly returned upon cessation of office.

“The continued retention of such property by any individual constitutes a clear breach of public trust and an unlawful possession of state assets.

“Accordingly, Mr Omobayo is hereby given a period of seven days from the date of this release to comply fully by returning all government property under his custody to the Office of the Secretary to the State Government.”

Itua noted that failure to comply within the stipulated period would compel the government to direct the Commissioner of Police, Edo State Command, to effect his arrest and ensure the immediate recovery of all state assets still in his possession through lawful means.

He added, “The Edo State Government remains committed to accountability, due process, and the protection of public property.

“No individual, regardless of former position or political affiliation, will be permitted to unlawfully appropriate or retain assets belonging to the people of Edo State.”

News

Oke-Oroma Elders Accuse Edo-GIS Officials of Reviving Obaseki’s Controversial Coral City Project

Published

10 hours ago

October 28, 2025

Editor

Elders of the Oke-Oroma community in Edo State, have raised concerns over alleged attempts by certain elements within the Edo State Geographic Information Service, Edo-GIS, to revive the outlawed Coral City template, a project initiated by former Governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration.

They claimed that this clandestine move by these elements in EDOGIS is aimed at undermining and frustrating the progress made in affirming and redeeming Governor Monday Okpebholo’s earlier solemn promises to the people.

Recall that the Edo State Government in a press release dated October 8, 2025, warned land grabbers, encroachers and speculators to steer clear the land in Obagie community designed for Coral City by the immediate past government, after it was reportedly speculated that some people have encroached the said area.

In a press statement jointly signed by the Head of the Community, Gaius Emokpae and the Secretary, Monday Omorogiuwa and made available to the newsmen yesterday, the duo disclosed that Okpebholo has been working round the clock to address the issues surrounding the Oke-Oroma land disputed area, but faced with these elements who are hiding under government to escalate tension.

They revealed that in continuation of the former governor Obaseki’s manipulative tendencies, these elements have also reportedly established another new company named EDO NEW TOWNS DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD to replace the CORAL CITY with the directors purely their political associates, Blood relatives and friends.

The gang up, according to Emokpae, is between Obaseki’s loyalists and these elements in EDOGIS who are attempting to silence governor Okpebholo’s decision on the issue.

The statement partly reads, “After Governor Monday Okpebholo was inaugurated on November 12, 2024, he visited the community and made a solemn promise to return our village to us after carrying out their investigations.

“When we visited him in the office he told us that the government had revoked the C of C of the people the former governor sold to, notably the “Coral City”. He told us to go back home and take over our land and start development.

“The pronouncement was greeted with a thunderous ovation. We are now in the process of completing the legal documentation to conclude this milestone transaction

“But some powerful people in EDO-GIS are hiding under the umbrella of governance to re-invent the ex-governor Obaseki’s template specifically the Coral City to reverse the decision of Governor Monday Okpebholo.”

While lamenting their moves, the duo emphasized that despite the governor’s clear intention on revoking the Coral City to allow the owners go back to their lands, the bank account used for the operations of the Coral City is still functional where some financial transactions were recently carried out between some people invited to purchase some piece of plots and EDO-GIS Officials.

Despite existing as an ancestral home date back 15th century ago, Oke Oroma Community had been immersed in communal boundary disputes with neighbouring villages including Amagba, and Obazagbon villages in Oredo Local Government, and Obagie N” vbuosa in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area since June 2012, four months after the death of Pa Joseph Emokpae, the last Odionwere of the community.

Since then the crisis escalated, and not less than 25 people have been killed with property worth billions of Naira by the former governor Obaseki’s backed loyalists and suspected land grabbers across the neighboring communities.

They expressed worry that if allowed to continue, this could lead to renewed tensions and violence in the area.

The elders, in the statement, are urging individuals seeking personal benefits to desist and work with the governor whose magnanimity is well known from the beginning of his administration as he takes necessary steps to prevent any further escalation of the situation and ensure the continued peace and stability of the community.

Several calls put across to the Media Director of Edo-GIS by INFO DAILY for a response on the allegations, did not go through, as the network response: “The number you dial is switched off.”