Why Senate rejected power devolution to states – Saraki

President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has blamed sentiments from parts of the country for the rejection of devolution of powers clause in ongoing 1999 Constitution’s review by lawmakers. Saraki made this known when he appeared on News Agency of Nigeria Forum in Abuja. He said if the voting on the amendments had come months before agitations for restructuring and inciting remarks from some Nigerians, it would have scaled through. According to Mr. Saraki, the fact that it did not pull through means that there are some Nigerians that are not sure of what it is, and a lot of people equated devolution of power with restructuring.

“Th is was why I said when I was in Ilorin that we should all blame ourselves because I think the commentaries by sections, groups and individuals have built a lot of mistrust. “If the constitutional review had come like eight months ago, the devolution clause would have passed. I think that the sentiments, fake news and one part of the country saying they want to go and another saying they want to stay, contributed to the rejection. All of these issues created this mistrust as people are not sure of what it is all about and are having insinuations that some people want to play a fast one on them.

“So, those who weresceptical said they were not ready to support this and as I keep saying, we are a country of multiple religions, multiple ethnicity, which must be respected,’’ he said. Th e president of the senate said that as a diverse nation with diff erent ways of life, it was important to appreciate the concern of everyone on the state of the nation. “You can’t bully people to go one way because that is the way you want it. Th e Constitution has said twothirds; if you say two-thirds, that means you must have the buy-in of more than majority of the people.’

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