#Afenifere group urges #APC to ‘save’ #Nigeria Group condemned the size of government. The Afenifere Renewal Group has urged the newly registered All Progressives Congress, APC, to ensure that its programmes rescue Nigeria from the brink of collapse. In a statement on Friday, the Yoruba socio-political group said that the emergence of a mega party on the Nigeria’s political turf is not enough to end the tide of woes buffeting the nation’s drifting ship. “The APC should go a step further by saving the country completely from present and future trouble by incorporating comprehensive principles of federalism in its cardinal policies,” said the group in the statement signed by Kunle Famoriyo, the Publicity Secretary. The group stated that it welcomes the excitement that greeted the emergence of the APC several weeks ago when the Independent National Electoral Commission formalised its registration. “The public unveiling of APC’s manifesto recently convinced us that the party will entrench a purposeful administration if given the chance by Nigerian electorates.” While unveiling its manifesto on Thursday, the APC, among other promises, pledged to tackle Nigeria’s perennial power problem by generating 40,000 Mega Watts within eight years. The Yoruba group said that an APC-led administration will change Nigeria for the better not based on the manifesto alone, but that many of the party’s leaders have demonstrated an inextricable connection between them and their words. “In all its grandstanding for the past 14 years, never has the PDP been able to dare to promise half of what APC boldly declared as its electoral promises,” Mr. Famoriyo said. “It is ridiculous how PDP-led administrations over the years have made us believe that good governance needs weigh more than rocket science. After 14 years, power generation fluctuates and has never exceeded 4,000MW.” The group stated that it endorses all of APC’s manifestoes except its stance on federalism. It further noted that the nation needs a fundamental political reform that will overhaul the present bloated governance structure. “And we believe such fundamental reform can only come about through an instrument of a Sovereign National Conference,” said Mr. Famoriyo. “Our country is over-governed. In 2013 budget, the presidency alone has an allocation of N35.7bn while Office of Secretary to Government of the Federation got N70.4bn. We have more than 30 federal ministers, 469 federal legislators, 36 state governors, 774 local government chairmen and thousands of state legislators and councillors, All these political office holders have retinue of special assistants, advisers, and consultants. The present cost of governance is unsustainable and in fact, anti-democratic. We must be moving towards lean governments, which is why we believe local governments should not be a federating tier of government.” “We also believe that many of our 36 states are weak and nonviable. Therefore political reform is needed to allow for willing federating states to merge in a way that will allow for fiscal federalism. The leaner the government, the more transparent it becomes, and the less we would have to fund anti-corruption initiatives.” #PREMIUNTIMESNG
Posted on: Sun, 25 Aug 2013 12:49:51 +0000
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