I Won’t Cede Power To Unelected People — Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that, those calling for
separation of Nigeria are only doing so to destabilize his
government, but “there is no government in the world that will cede
their authority to the people that are not elected.”

The President who stated this in Zaria, Kaduna State on Saturday
said, those agitating for separation of the country are ignorant of
war and its consequences.

He said, “You are telling us to devolve a system and call for an
obscure conference to come and discuss how we can move forward as a
nation, that can never be done and no country will agree to
that.”

Speaking as the Special Guest of Honour at the launching of the
Kudirat Abiola Sabon Gari Peace Foundation in memory of the Zaria
born wife of the winner of 1993 Presidential election, Chief MKO
Abiola.

Represented by Executive Secretary, Revenue Mobilization,
Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Alhaji Mohammed Bello Shehu, the
President said instead of clamoring for restructuring or separation
of the country, focus should rather be on actualizing local
government autonomy and making of the judicial system
independent.

According to the President, “those who are discussing
restructuring, my question is that what are you going to
restructure?

“If you ask many Nigerians what are they going to restructure,
you will find out that they have nothing to talk about. Some of
them have not even studied the 1999 constitution. The 1999
constitution is almost 70 to 80 percent 1979 constitution.

“It is okay to demand for restructuring, renew of constitution,
but what is most important now is how can Nigeria state make local
governmental functional, how can Nigerian states make judiciary
independent.

“Rather we ask Nigerians to put focus on putting pressure on
National Assembly members to make sure that, the local government
autonomy as enshrined in our constitution is respected and
implemented.

‘So, if that were to be done, some of this issues like
insecurity, you will find a situation where local government
chairmen in collaboration with traditional rulers will form a chain
a communication to figure out what is really happening.

“So those who are doing that (agitating) should go back and meet
their representatives in the House of Assembly and ask for whatever
amendment of constitution. Due process should be followed

“The other issue is that those who are calling for restructuring
and confrence or what they call ethnic nationality. If you go to
Southern Kaduna, Taraba, who is to represent them. We have
different combination of ethnicity in many states.

“Even Kano and Kaduna Igbos have properties. The same goes with
Yorubas. There are Fulani in porthacourt. So those calling for
whether seperation or restructuring, some of them I will say they
are very naive or even mischievously dangerous.

“Those agitating for secession are ignorant of war and its
consequences because Nigeria is a dominant force in west africa. My
appeal to each and everyone here is to try and educate there
children. We are better as a nation, there is no way we can be
separated.

“And I said also that majority of those calling for
restructuring are people that are so afraid to go into partisan
politics. And even if they were to go into partisan politics they
will not win. There is no government in the world that will cede
their authority to the people that are not elected,” Buhari
said.

Meanwhile, Son of Chief MKO Abiola, winner of the 1993
presidential election, Alhaji Jamiu Abiola said it would mean that
his parents died in vain if Nigeria or its democracy collapse.

Speaking at the launch of the Foundation he floated and named
after his late mother, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola to work for peace and
unity of Nigeria in the face of agitations for secession, Alhaji
Jamiu Abiola who is the Chairman of the Foundation said, it was
founded to work against the forces trying to bring Nigeria down,
adding that creation of Nigeria by God was not a mistake and the
country has gone too far as a united nation than to break up.

According to him, “I chose to float this foundation now, 25
years after my mother’s demise because of where we are now as a
country. Where we are now as a country is very dangerous. We have a
democracy but we have fake news and so many things working towards
destroying the country.

“So, the same way these forces against the country, we also have
to establish forces of our own to work for the country. We should
get more forces positively than the negative forces. So, this is
the time, because if things go wrong and democracy does not work,
it means my father and my mother died for nothing. And there is no
way I can let happen.

“So, this time around, we are going to assist the government to
look for solutions to the problems because we don’t want to benefit
from government, we want the government to benefit from us. So, we
are encouraging people to join our course so that we can recover
quickly.

“This government has good intention they want to do well, but
they need us to participate. So, we are drawing the line to say we
either move forward or backward, and I am sure Nigerians want to
move forward.

“What we want to be doing next is that, we have a technical
committee made up of professors, they would be looking at four
issues that will change the negative situation in the country. We
are going to be working from the grassroot from community leaders,
traditional and religious leaders and up like that.

“We are going to consult and find our solutions, we are not
going to wait for anybody, we are going to come up with solution to
our own problems, that is what we are doing.

“We have foreign partners with whom we are working of a peace
curriculum that we are going to send to schools, so that people can
learn about the importance of peace and coexistence. So, we are
going to make sure there is peace in Nigeria and people know the
value of peace and unity.

“God that brought us together as a united country did not make
mistake and we have even gone too far as a nation to break up. If
there are challenges, we should address our challenges and move on,
that is better for us than to disintegrate,” Abiola said.

Also speaking Kaduna state Governor, Mallam Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai
represented by the state’s Commissioner for education, Dr Shehu
Usman Mohammed warned that the country had grown beyond
separation.

He pointed out that those calling for separation should come
back to their senses because Nigerians were spread in every part of
the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that, those calling for
separation of Nigeria are only doing so to destabilize his
government, but “there is no government in the world that will cede
their authority to the people that are not elected.”

The President who stated this in Zaria, Kaduna State on Saturday
said, those agitating for separation of the country are ignorant of
war and its consequences.

He said, “You are telling us to devolve a system and call for an
obscure conference to come and discuss how we can move forward as a
nation, that can never be done and no country will agree to
that.”

Speaking as the Special Guest of Honour at the launching of the
Kudirat Abiola Sabon Gari Peace Foundation in memory of the Zaria
born wife of the winner of 1993 Presidential election, Chief MKO
Abiola.

Represented by Executive Secretary, Revenue Mobilization,
Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Alhaji Mohammed Bello Shehu, the
President said instead of clamoring for restructuring or separation
of the country, focus should rather be on actualizing local
government autonomy and making of the judicial system
independent.

According to the President, “those who are discussing
restructuring, my question is that what are you going to
restructure?

“If you ask many Nigerians what are they going to restructure,
you will find out that they have nothing to talk about. Some of
them have not even studied the 1999 constitution. The 1999
constitution is almost 70 to 80 percent 1979 constitution.

“It is okay to demand for restructuring, renew of constitution,
but what is most important now is how can Nigeria state make local
governmental functional, how can Nigerian states make judiciary
independent.

“Rather we ask Nigerians to put focus on putting pressure on
National Assembly members to make sure that, the local government
autonomy as enshrined in our constitution is respected and
implemented.

‘So, if that were to be done, some of this issues like
insecurity, you will find a situation where local government
chairmen in collaboration with traditional rulers will form a chain
a communication to figure out what is really happening.

“So those who are doing that (agitating) should go back and meet
their representatives in the House of Assembly and ask for whatever
amendment of constitution. Due process should be followed

“The other issue is that those who are calling for restructuring
and confrence or what they call ethnic nationality. If you go to
Southern Kaduna, Taraba, who is to represent them. We have
different combination of ethnicity in many states.

“Even Kano and Kaduna Igbos have properties. The same goes with
Yorubas. There are Fulani in porthacourt. So those calling for
whether seperation or restructuring, some of them I will say they
are very naive or even mischievously dangerous.

“Those agitating for secession are ignorant of war and its
consequences because Nigeria is a dominant force in west africa. My
appeal to each and everyone here is to try and educate there
children. We are better as a nation, there is no way we can be
separated.

“And I said also that majority of those calling for
restructuring are people that are so afraid to go into partisan
politics. And even if they were to go into partisan politics they
will not win. There is no government in the world that will cede
their authority to the people that are not elected,” Buhari
said.

Meanwhile, Son of Chief MKO Abiola, winner of the 1993
presidential election, Alhaji Jamiu Abiola said it would mean that
his parents died in vain if Nigeria or its democracy collapse.

Speaking at the launch of the Foundation he floated and named
after his late mother, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola to work for peace and
unity of Nigeria in the face of agitations for secession, Alhaji
Jamiu Abiola who is the Chairman of the Foundation said, it was
founded to work against the forces trying to bring Nigeria down,
adding that creation of Nigeria by God was not a mistake and the
country has gone too far as a united nation than to break up.

According to him, “I chose to float this foundation now, 25
years after my mother’s demise because of where we are now as a
country. Where we are now as a country is very dangerous. We have a
democracy but we have fake news and so many things working towards
destroying the country.

“So, the same way these forces against the country, we also have
to establish forces of our own to work for the country. We should
get more forces positively than the negative forces. So, this is
the time, because if things go wrong and democracy does not work,
it means my father and my mother died for nothing. And there is no
way I can let happen.

“So, this time around, we are going to assist the government to
look for solutions to the problems because we don’t want to benefit
from government, we want the government to benefit from us. So, we
are encouraging people to join our course so that we can recover
quickly.

“This government has good intention they want to do well, but
they need us to participate. So, we are drawing the line to say we
either move forward or backward, and I am sure Nigerians want to
move forward.

“What we want to be doing next is that, we have a technical
committee made up of professors, they would be looking at four
issues that will change the negative situation in the country. We
are going to be working from the grassroot from community leaders,
traditional and religious leaders and up like that.

“We are going to consult and find our solutions, we are not
going to wait for anybody, we are going to come up with solution to
our own problems, that is what we are doing.

“We have foreign partners with whom we are working of a peace
curriculum that we are going to send to schools, so that people can
learn about the importance of peace and coexistence. So, we are
going to make sure there is peace in Nigeria and people know the
value of peace and unity.

“God that brought us together as a united country did not make
mistake and we have even gone too far as a nation to break up. If
there are challenges, we should address our challenges and move on,
that is better for us than to disintegrate,” Abiola said.

Also speaking Kaduna state Governor, Mallam Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai
represented by the state’s Commissioner for education, Dr Shehu
Usman Mohammed warned that the country had grown beyond
separation.

He pointed out that those calling for separation should come
back to their senses because Nigerians were spread in every part of
the country.