Northern govs to gauge opinions on restructuring at town hall meetings

Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto, says town hall meetings will be held in the 19 northern states to aggregate views on restructuring.

Speaking with journalists after the inaugural meeting of the committee on restructuring, Tambuwal said the north has decided to present their case on the subject as a single entity.

He said the governors reaffirmed their remains a strong and united country.

“We have reaffirmed our commitment to ensuring Nigeria remains a strong, united country. We have also decided to present the case of the north as a single entity desirous of a prosperous country,” the governor said.

“Today’s meeting agreed on the need to hold town hall meetings in all the 19 states to hear the views of our people on the restructuring debate currently going on in the country.

“We are not limiting the area of discussion because it is better to put all questions on the table and have it discussed. We will discuss on federalism, fiscal federalism, state police, revenue structure and any other issue of interest.

“We have also decided to analyse previous documents and position papers that proffered viable options to northern development. A technical committee will study these documents, talk to the authors and present the report to us at our next meeting on October 24 here in Kaduna.

“We will key into the opportunity provided by the ongoing amendment of the 1999 constitution by the National assembly to see how our position can be reflected in the larger scheme of things.”

Muhammadu Sanusi II, emir of Kano, said all stakeholders would make inputs before the final report is presented.