Ahmed Makarfi, former National Caretaker Committee Chairman of the
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has vowed to restructure Nigeria if
elected as the president of Nigeria.
The former Governor of Kaduna State is of the opinion that
restructuring Nigeria will resolve some of the problems bedeviling the
country.
He spoke while addressing the leadership of Kogi State arm of the party and other stakeholders in Lokoja, on Friday.
Makarfi, a presidential aspirant also stated that only Nigerians can restructure the country, under a ‘trusted leadership’.
According to him, “We fought the battle together; the praise and
credit I’m receiving, is to God and to all of us. To me, Kogi is home;
when Alhaji Ibrahim Idris (Ibro) was governor, we use to come and spend
weekends with him, Kogi remains a home to me.
“We have many problems confronting us in Nigeria; insecurity, lack of
national consensus, hunger, poverty; our economy has gone down, but
there are few people benefiting. Nigerians are in lack; they are not
able to provide for their families, access good healthcare, and all
sorts of deprivation. People are being witch-hunted.
“Some people talk of restructuring, but when they talk of
restructuring, they talk of sharing money and resources. I tell you; we
need institutional restructuring.
“Only Nigerians that can restructure Nigeria. People are asking for
restructuring due to lack of belonging, lopsidedness in appointments,
the feeling of being cheated, and so on.
“What I tell you is that, now, if you’re in power, you’re right; if
you’re in opposition, you’re wrong. We must get to a level in Nigeria,
where if you’re a president, a governor, you can be charged for
wrongdoing; not you being in power and witch-hunting every other person.
That is turning Nigeria into a ‘Banana Republic’. We must therefore
restructure our institutions.
“Gentlemen, a tree does not make a forest…they will come with bags of
money. Collect, but do the right thing. There is no receipt”.