JOS – Mr. Abubakar Malami, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, has said that restructuring Nigeria’s Federal System must go through democratic process.
Malami said this on Wednesday, while declaring open a Think-Tank Conference on ‘Federalism and the Challenges of Dynamic Equilibrium in Nigeria: Towards a National Strategy’, organized by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru , Jos, Plateau State.
“We must use democratic means to reform our federal system. We need to recognize that both Federalism and democracy are mechanisms for managing diversity.
“Indeed, while federalism provides the institutional framework for managing diversity, democracy makes possible the negotiation of diverse identity claims by providing them with representation, voice and political mechanisms by which their competing claims are balanced and reconciled.
“We cannot wish away the particular conditions and circumstances that had produced the challenges in our federal system.
“We must use democratic means to find solutions to these numerous challenges,” the Minister told his audience.
Malami reminded advocates of restructuring that the constitution must be amended to accommodate referendum.
He spoke further, “As things stands, restructuring requires amending the constitution to accommodate referendum or in the alternative an amendment to the 1999 constitution which must be supported by majority of legislators, 24 states of the federation as enshrined in section 9 of the constitution.
“Whether that process is going to be an easy sell is a conjecture that should be left for deliberation of this forum.
“But one thing that is certain is the inevitable implication that abolishing states through restructuring process will certainly translate to the eventual multiplier effect of abolishing the states House of Assembly and perhaps downsizing the National Assembly”.
The AGF called on participants to make useful recommendations at the end of the conference.
