Restructuring: Buhari won’t succumb to threats of breakup, says presidency

The presidency says the Buhari administration “will not succumb to threats” made by those calling for a restructuring of Nigeria.

Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, said the threat that Nigeria will break up if it is not restructured is unpatriotic and unwarranted.

In the build-up to the 2015 elections, the All Progressives Congress (APC) promised to restructure Nigeria by “promoting true federalism in the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

In its manifesto, the party specifically promised to “restructure governance in a way that kick starts our political economy so  that we begin to walk the path of our better future”.

But not much has been done since it came to power five years ago, leading to some Nigerians and groups mounting pressure on the APC-led government to restructure the country.

On Saturday, Enoch Adeboye, general overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), joined in demanding for true federalism, saying: “It is either we restructure or we break, you don’t have to be a prophet to know that one. That is certain – restructure or we break up.”

But in a statement on Sunday, Shehu described the recent calls as “unpatriotic outburst,” saying Nigeria needs to pay full attention to its current security challenges.

“The Presidency responds to the recurring threats to the corporate existence of the country with factions giving specific timelines for the President to do one thing or another or else, in their language, ‘the nation will break up’,” he said in the statement.

“This is to warn that such unpatriotic outbursts are both unhelpful and unwarranted as this government will not succumb to threats and take any decision out of pressure at a time when the nation’s full attention is needed to deal with the security challenges facing it at a time of the COVID-19 health crisis.

“Repeat: this administration will not take any decision against the interests of 200 million Nigerians, who are the President’s first responsibility under the constitution, out of fear or threats especially in this hour of a health crisis.”

He added that President Muhammadu Buhari would “continue to work with patriotic Nigerians” in line with the legislative process to finding solutions to “structural and other impediments to the growth and wellbeing of the nation and its people”.