The All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum has called for the adoption of a regional system of government in Nigeria where every region can take care of its needs using its natural resources, educational quality, political prowess, and agriculture.
It also said the call for a regional government has become necessary due to the marginalization of the North Central region.
The call was made by the Chairman of the forum, Alhaji Saleh Mandung Zazzaga, while speaking with journalists in Jos, the Plateau State Capital, on Friday, over what he termed ‘Issues of urgent national importance.’
He said the North Central has contributed a lot to the nation in terms of agriculture, education, natural resources, political contributions to government, and the emergence of national leaders, among other vital national contributions, but yet has been marginalized over the years.
The chairman said they have been marginalized politically. He said the region is also the food basket of the nation, especially from agricultural produce from Benue, Plateau, Niger, Kogi, etc., but their agricultural strength is not maximized at the national level to take care of the food security of the region.
Similarly, he said, they have natural resources like tin and various other natural endowments, which can take care of the region’s economic needs, but are not yet well maximized for the economic prosperity of the people.
Also, he said that since the democratic dispensation from 1999, the region has contributed to the growth of democracy and the emergence of many national leaders as well as presidents, but are somewhat marginalized in terms of political appointments, for example, the recently contentious APC National Chairmanship position which is being taken to the North West.
“So, after careful consideration of how marginalized we have been in this nation despite our endowments and contributions to national development, we, the North Central APC Forum, are calling for the regional system of government.
“Since the regional system of government is a political framework where power is divided among constituent political units, such as regions or states, we are, therefore, calling for the adoption of such a system so that each region in the nation can use their endowments to develop themselves without any fear of marginalization.
“Meanwhile, the federal government would still be responsible for matters such as national security, foreign affairs, and regulation of interstate or inter-region commerce, while the regions would have powers to administer their respective regions,” he said.
According to Zazzaga, their mission is to uplift the North Central Zone, and they are much engaged in initiating political and economic activities that would benefit the region, and they will keep pushing for the progress of the region until they achieve a favorable result.
Zazzaga said as loyal APC leaders, they have been working for the success of the North Central region and have collaborated with leaders of other parties and stakeholders from the region in this regard, irrespective of ethno-religious or political affiliations.
He explained that using their forum to project the North Central region is legitimate, pointing out that even among the governors, legislators, and local government chairmen, there have party or regional forums to push for their common interests.
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