Former Vice
President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has stated that true federalism and
restructuring would address secession threat by members of the proscribed
Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Atiku stated
this in a chat with journalists, at the state secretariat of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), Finbarrs road, Umuahia, the Abia state capital, at the
end of a closed-door meeting with national delegates of the PDP during his
visit in the state.
He denied
that Northerners were against restructuring and stated that devolution of power
and creation of state, was all that was needed for all the sections of the
country to come to a roundtable to redefine how best to move the country
forward.
“I believe
that when you restructure this country and you give more resources and powers
to component units of this country, you will not have the problem of IPOB. IPOB
is looking for self-determination and when you devolve more powers and
resources that will take care of the agitation.
“Our great
party is at the cross road as well as the country. We have never been so
divided in all my life in this country the way that we are divided today
between the North south and east and Christians and Muslims. It is a very
serious issue.
“We have the
issue of insecurity. You are not secure in any part of the country. Of course,
we have one of the greatest economic declines in the history of this country.
There has never been a time when we recorded more than 11million people out of
their jobs in this country; this is the first time that we are witnessing that.
In every aspect of the country, we have gone back while other countries are
forging ahead, we are declining. There is no unity, no security and the economy
is bad as well.
“Therefore,
it has become imperative that we put our heads together and unite and make sure
that we elect a leader that can reverse all these negative growth this party
(APC) has brought to this country. It is on record that 16years of PDP
administration in this country has improved the standard of living of this
country.
“During the
PDP, Nigeria was declared debt free country but within three years, all the 16
years achievements of the PDP have been reversed completely by the APC led
administration, so there is need for us to elect a leadership that can reverse
all these negative growths that we have achieved in the last three years.
“I have been
an advocate of either local or community policing to deal with local issues. I
do not know of a federation that has a Centralized Policing,” he said.
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