Amidst the controversy generated by governors of the North and Southern regions over power shift, Kano State governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje yesterday cautioned his colleagues not to divide Nigeria on a subject that was purely in the Exclusive List of political parties.
The governor, in a speech to mark Nigeria@61, said he believes that Nigeria is a united and indivisible country and that our Constitution has even taken care of that.
Ganduje explained that “I don’t see secession as the way out of the current challenges afflicting the nation. Instead, I recommend dialogue as a crucial option for addressing such problems”.
He stressed that “The recent problem between northern governors and southern governors as I earlier mentioned is unfortunate. Because a situation whereby governors of one region speak an uncomplimentary language to their colleagues in the other region is not civilized at all. There is no civilisation at all in that”.
Ganduje maintained that “The issues at stake are varied, some issues that can be resolved while some issues are political party issues.“.
Speaking further on the contentious issue, the governor noted that “the Constitution has not mentioned that power should shift from North to South, but it has been a tradition in the country to have power zoning. And this zoning is a strategy by a political party. Each party has to develop a strategy on how to win an election”.
Dr. Ganduje, therefore, called the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum to “convene a meeting of the Governors’ Forum so that we apologize to each other for making uncomplimentary remarks on each other on an issue that is solely a political issue. That is my stand on that.”
Commenting on the herdsmen crisis, Ganduje said: “Another issue that brought the dichotomy is the issue of open grazing. Each State has the power to make laws, and there is diversity in each of these States. What is a problem to one may not be a problem to another State. Therefore, States have the powers with their own Houses of Assemblies to make laws“.
