Politics

Restructuring Is To Get Nigeria Working Again, Not For Regionalism, MBF Replies Yakasai

Published

3 years ago

September 9, 2022

The Middle Belt Forum, MBF, has explained that the clamour for the restructuring of the country was not for the purpose of returning the country back to regionalism but to get the country working again and returned back to the path of sustainable peace and development irrespective of the system of government.

The National President of MBF, Dr. Bitrus Pogu made the clarification in Makurdi while reacting to the recent comment by Alh. Tanko Yakasai who was quoted as saying that regionalism would not help Nigeria anymore.

Dr. Pogu said, “We had regions before we came to the presidential system of government and the regions operated up till the time the military came just before the civil war, and we knew that Nigeria was working fine.

“We had the groundnut pyramids in the North, the cattle trade and all that. The South West and East were doing fine. At that time we were very young and wouldn’t have understood the workings of government but all we knew was that things were working well.

“We had the Native Authority Police and we had Nigerian Police. In fact you hardly see Nigerian Police. The people you see when there was anything were the Native Authority Police. In the North we called them Dan Doka, the Nigerian Police then were called Dan Sanda.

“And you hardly see the Nigerian Police, it was the Native Authority Police that you see in the villages with his short knicker, his socks rolled up and handy with his small baton. They did a good job, there was no corruption and they went about with their baton and arresting local armed robbers.

“Things were moving fine. We had sanitary inspectors, we had forestry guards, Nigeria was working as a country and our currency was strong.

“Of course we had the issue of traditional rulers playing major roles especially in the North and it worked. That was the regional thing that we came from when the military took over.

“We are not saying we should turn down the wheel of progress by adopting regionalism. But in the presidential system which is the contentious issue, have we adopted the principles of true of federalism in this system we are practicing?

“We are not, we just took some parts that are convenient from the American system and then centralized everything at the top; because the military wanted to be in control of everything.

“Now we are in a civilian regime and we have adopted the same governance patten of the military which was for their own convenience. It will not work because it has never worked. Instead Nigeria is falling apart. We have a president who is so powerful than God knows what. And everything is at the centre.

“You have the Nigerian Police everywhere but people are being killed and you call the police thy would not respond because somebody in Abuja did not give order. The military who are supposed to be hardly seen are doing the work that are meant for police.

“Before the civil war you never saw them anyhow, they were always in their barracks, but now soldiers are everywhere because things are falling apart.

“I am not saying that regionalism is better, but what we are saying is that the restructuring of the system we have will do us better. If that restructuring takes us to true federalism, so be it. If that restructuring keeps us with the same federating units which are the states, with the devolution of power that will ensure that things at the local levels work well, so be it.

“Why are we ask for state police? We copied the American system and in that system there is local police and each one has its jurisdiction. So when the people are attacked and you cannot defend yourself, the local police is the first line of defense.

“So people who do not want such things are the supporters and perpetrators of this evil in the land because they do not want the evil to stop. They do not want the people to defend themselves. They want the people to be killed like rats.

“The answers as far as I am concerned is lets restructure and get things happening in the right way and in the right direction.

“If Nigerians want it to be true regions, so be it. If Nigerians want the structures which we have now using the states as the federating units, so be it. But let there be devolution of powers, let there be true federalism and we will move forward.”

VANGUARD

Related Topics:#Nigeria MBF Restructuring Yakasai

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Politics

FLASHBACK: How Tinubu Blamed Jonathan For Killing Of Christians In 2014

Published

2 hours ago

November 1, 2025

Editor

As allegations of an ongoing ‘Christian genocide’ in Nigeria intensify, a 2014 statement from President Bola Tinubu condemning former President Goodluck Jonathan for failing to protect Christian worshippers has resurfaced, drawing sharp parallels to criticisms now leveled at Tinubu’s administration.

In January 2014, Tinubu, then an opposition leader, lambasted Jonathan over attacks by Boko Haram in Borno and Adamawa states that targeted Christian communities.

“The slaughtering of Christian worshippers is strongly condemnable. It calls into question the competence of Jonathan to protect Nigerians,” Tinubu stated at the time.

By April 2014, amid escalating violence including the Nyanya bombing in Abuja, Tinubu doubled down, emphasising the president’s non-negotiable duty to ensure citizen safety.

“My heart bleeds for our people and the country over the deaths in Nyanya. A government unable to protect its citizens deserves to be queried,” he said.

Eleven years on, Tinubu’s words are being repurposed by critics amid reports of widespread violence against Christians across northern and central Nigeria.

According to a recent report from the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety), at least 7,087 Christians were killed in the first 220 days of 2025 alone—an average of 32 deaths per day.

Advocacy groups like Open Doors and International Christian Concern describe the attacks by Islamist militants, including Boko Haram and Fulani extremists, as targeted persecution amounting to genocide, with over 7,000 Christian deaths recorded in 2025 and thousands more displaced or kidnapped.

The Nigerian government has denied claims of religious targeting, insisting the violence stems from broader security challenges affecting all communities.

The crisis gained fresh international spotlight on October 31, 2025, when U.S. President Donald Trump declared Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” over the “existential threat” to Christianity there. In a Truth Social post, Trump stated: “Thousands of Christians are being killed by radical Islamists in Nigeria… The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening.”

He urged Congress to investigate and affirmed US readiness to protect global Christian populations, echoing calls from allies like Senator Ted Cruz, who has described the violence as a “religious genocide.”

Opposition figures and faith-based organisations in Nigeria have invoked Tinubu’s 2014 rhetoric to demand urgent action, arguing that the same standards of accountability he once applied to Jonathan now apply to his own leadership.

Security experts caution that while the violence has complex ethnic and resource dimensions, the failure to curb targeted attacks on Christians risks further eroding trust in federal institutions.

The Tinubu administration has not yet responded to the renewed scrutiny or Trump’s designation.

Source: Nigerian Tribune

Politics

Court Stops 2025 PDP National Convention

Published

12 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday halted the planned 2025 National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) until the party complied with the statutory requirements of the party, the Constitution and the Electoral Act.

The suit was filed by three aggrieved members of the party namely, Hon Austin Nwachukwu (Imo PDP chairman), Hon Amah Abraham Nnanna (Abia PDP chairman) and Turnah Alabh George (PDP Secretary, South-South) seeking to stop the convention on the ground of violation to the Electoral law.

Delivering the judgment, the Judge also restrained INEC from accepting report on the outcome of any national convention of the party without following the due process of the law as well as its guidelines and regulations.

The Judge held that INEC is not entitled to give effect to the convention a party not done in accordance with the Constitution, Electoral Act and the guidelines/regulations of political parties.

The plaintiffs instituted the suit seeking to stop the planned November 15 and 16, 2025 National Convention of the PDP scheduled for Ibadan in Oyo State where new National Officers are expected to be elected on the ground of breach of the party’s Constitution.

The nine defendants are, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); PDP; Samuel Anyanwu, National Secretary of the party; Umar Bature, National Organizing Secretary of the party; National Working Committee (NWC); and National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party; Ambassador Umar Iliya Damagum; Ali Odefa; and Emmanuel Ogidi.

Politics

2027: Why Jonathan Can’t Run For President – Appeal Court Ex-President

Published

12 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

Former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, has clarified why former President Goodluck Jonathan cannot contest the 2027 presidential election.

According to Salami, the Nigerian Constitution explicitly bars any individual from holding the office of President for more than eight years, making Jonathan ineligible to run again.

He explained that Jonathan had already completed the tenure of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua before serving his own full term, which constitutionally disqualifies him from seeking another.

In an opinion piece, Salami argued that any attempt by Jonathan to contest and win in 2027 would amount to a violation of the law, stressing that such a victory would be nullified by the courts.

“It is painstakingly and dispassionately demonstrated that the ambition of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to contest for the office of the president in the 2027 general election is effectively and undoubtedly shot down,” Salami stated.