Former Defence Minister General Theophilus Danjuma and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday diferred on who between the Nigerian President and state governors exercises too much power that is inimical to good governance. Speaking at the Leadership Newspapers annual conference and excellence awards ceremony at the Sheraton Hotels Abuja, General Danjuma said there was too much concentration of powers in state governors, which they misapply to satisfy selfish interests rather than for the good of their people. He said state governors are at best sole administrators.
But the former Vice President said power is concentrated too much at the centre, making the Nigerian President 'the most powerful president in the world'. He argued that due to the excessive powers vested in the president "he could literally unleash all security agencies on an individual or organization, undermine the national assembly, and turn the judiciary into an almost pro-government or conformist organ."
Danjuma, who received this year's Man of the Year Award by the Leadership Newspapers Group said contrary to widespread belief, the state government and not only the federal government needs its powers to be pruned.
He said: "The most stifling concentration of power is not in the centre but at the state level. The governors, almost all the governors are sole administrators. The first thing they do when they come into power is to pocket the state assemblies, neutralise the judiciary, abolish the local government. In PDP states, they proceed to even name candidates for ministerial posts at the centre. All PDP states are one party and are governed by sole administrators."
Elaborating, the former Defence Minister said: "So, there is nobody, including you, (pointing to Atiku Abubakar) who can emerge as the president of Nigeria in PDP unless the governors want it; you cannot do it. The governors today are the most powerful group of people in the political system. Until we face up to that fact and find solutions to it, we are all in trouble."
However, Atiku who spoke earlier was vehement about the excessive power of the president saying the only way to check it is to decentralise the federal structure. He therefore advocated a return to regional government along the existing six geo-political zones in the country.
He said: "There is indeed too much concentration of power and resources at the centre, and it is stifling our match to true greatness as a nation and threatening our unity because of all the abuses, inefficiencies, massive corruption, and reactive tension that it has been generating."
"There is need therefore to review the structure of the Nigerian federation, preferable along the bases of the current six geo-political zones, as regions, with states and provinces, the existing state structure may not suffice, as the states are too weak materially and politically to provide what is needed for good governance."
The former vice president, who was the chairman of the event, said "one of the consequences of excessive centralization and the military rule that facilitated it is that the Nigerian President today, is the most powerful president in the world, believe it or not."
"This is because he could literally unleash all security agencies on an individual or organization, undermine the national assembly, and turn the judiciary into an almost pro-government or conformist organ, this is not in the realm of speculation, it has been happening in this country."
According to him, "decentralization is not an invitation to the breakup of the country, and national unity should not continue to be confused with concentration of power and resources at the federal level."
He regretted that some Nigerians have been hiding behind calls for restructuring to push for a breakup of the country because of their proximity to a finite natural resource and transient political power.
Atiku also advocated for only two political parties as a solution that will create a formidable opposition party. This he said will deal with the issues of the ethnic, religious and regional differences that divide the country.
Professor Pat Utomi who was the guest speaker at the event said "opposition politics in Nigeria has not quite worked or has fallen short of expectation for a variety of reasons including the fact that Nigerian politics is dominated by so called professional politicians; people who have no jobs except what they gain from politics." He called for consistent and committed fight against corruption.
In a keynote address, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government Ambassador Baba Ahmed Jidda noted that poverty, the problem of insecurity in the country and the lopsided distribution of federal government revenue are the greatest threats to the nation's democracy.
Those who received awards included General Theophilus Danjuma (Man of the Year), Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State as Governor of the Year, Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal as Politician of the Year while Aliko Dangote emerged as Business Person of the Year.
Dignitaries at the event include national leader of the ACN Bola Ahmed Tinubu, national chairman of the ACN Chief Bisi Akande, Alhaji Maitama Sule, Professor Jerry Gana, Aku Uka of Wukari Shekarau Angyu Masa and Governor Danbaba Danfulani Suntai of Taraba State.
Daily Trust