...He Will Restructure This Country.
By Willie Amadi.
Following my opinion on the above article last week, a lot of harsh reactions have been canvassed on Facebook, Instagram, whatsap groups and the print media neccesitating my
desire to use this opportunity to further explain my perhaps, grossly misunderstood position on the matter.
If we painstakingly study and understand the political grip Governors apply in arm twisting incumbent Presidents, you may realize that there is absolutely nothing any President can achieve or do, if the Governors, whether Supreme Court gives judgment against their interests or not, for example the csse of the widely canvassed tampering of local government allocations, refuses to cooperate with him. The Governors Forum unknown to many, is stronger than any President himself, unless the ruling party controls the majority members who out of fear of party sanctions decides to work with the President. Politically speaking, without the overt and or covert partnership with the Governors, the President will never win any election or re-election. Furthermore, by law, they have the constitutional powers to govern and spend the revenue of their States without any questions from anyone including Mr. President himself.
Regrettably, the EFCC and other agencies which the President can use against uncooperative Governor(s) can only come against them after they have left office because of their immunity while in office. Even, at that, how many of them have been convicted or held to account for their stewardship after leaving office. The two Governors that were recently convicted under the very corrupt Buhari administration were pardoned by the wrongly acclaimed "anti corruption czar" himself a few months of their incarceration in Kuje prisons. Constitutionally, Governors are mini gods and laws unto themselves and unfortunately 62% of the monthly federation revenue goes to them directly or indirectly. They have the cake aswell as the knife.
The various State Houses of Assembly who are supposed to oversight the executive arm and control their excesses as practiced in the second and third republics have been reduced to house boys of the Governors. They have no impetus or power to challenge the Governors, who in the first place, gave them the party tickets to become candidates for their election and later as the nominee for the principal officers of the House of Assembly particularly, the Speaker of the House. They fall over each other privately and collectively to do the biddings of the Governor, unsolicited, as a reassurance of their loyalty. This is obviously against Parliamentary norms and practices in civilized climes. What a country we have today !
It is a notorious fact that the Governors totally decides the fate of everyone within the sub nationals. The word 'Nigeria' or 'Country' does not exist anywhere. What makes up this country or Nigeria are the 36 States of the Federation including the FCT.
Mr. President, administratively presides over a geographical entity as provided in the Exclusive List as enshrined under the 1999 Constitution as variously ammended, with the Governors of the sub nationals taking charge of the rest provisions inrespect of State and local governments powers.
So, may I ask again, how will President Tinubu control these Governors and the country at large, if they refuse to cooperate with him and his policies, particularly in these days, where all critical regulatory institutions in the country have been captured through programmed use of intimidation, inducement and weaponisation of poverty by those who are signatory to the vault ?
Sadly today, the Almighty Judiciary and the NJC are in protective custody. Every Judge or Justice of the court comes from a State and can be coerced through the Governor's Forum and the National Assembly Representatives. This is what it is, unfortunately.
These and many more issues and concerns form the basis of my conviction that President Tinubu cannot in the midst of myriads of inherited and new problems, provoke the expected rapid dividends of democracy at the grassroots within his troublesome 3years in office, if the Governors refuse, neglect or decide not to partner and support the President to "wet their grassroots" under the RENEWED HOPE AGENDA. I might be wrong but I am also consoled by my strong belief that President Tinubu will eventually fix this country through the elusive constitutional ammendment and restructuring of prolonged imbalances, since miraculously, for the first time in the history of this country, a President and the ruling party has acquired a comfortable majority in the National Assembly, State Houses of Assembly through the Governor's Forum required to ammend the constitution.
This is the bigger picture I am looking at for the future, and not the daily abuses on Mr. President by concerned and worried patriotic Nigerians.
Willie Amadi
LL.B, BL, LL.M, Ph.D Law
Member, Imo State Council of Elders.