Nigeria’s body of Northern Senators have kicked against the implementation of the 2014 conference report.
According to them, it is unfair to ask President Muhammadu Buhari to implement the report of the conference convoked by a former President.
The senators stated this yesterday in Katsina, adding that President Buhari was neither privy to the conference’s underlying philosophy nor primary objectives, therefore, was not obliged to implementing it.
Chairman of the Northern Senators Forum (NSF), Abdullahi Adamu, said this at the opening of a two-day retreat of the forum in Katsina.
Hear him: “The report is a fallacy borne out of ignorance and there is nothing radical about it.”
He said that though the report had treated restructuring extensively, “It actually fell back on the status quo. It is mealy-mouthed about fiscal federalism.
“During the 2014 conference, the clamour for state police was deafening, yet what did the conference say about it? It merely recommended what it called second tier policing in the country with the modalities for implementation worked out between the centre and the constituent units of the federation.
“We must also interrogate the legitimacy of the conference itself. Was it convened in accordance with the extant laws of the land? Was it intended to usurp the constitutional functions of the National Assembly?
“The time has come for the senators to make their views known as their silence should not be seen as a sign of weakness on issues. It is as if we are sleeping on duty.”
The meeting had in attendance 58 senators led by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki. Governors, of Katsina, Kebbi and Zamfara; the Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar, and Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie, among others. (Photo: Newshelm)