Some southern and northern senators on Saturday disagreed over the agitation for the return of Nigeria to the regional form of government. They expressed their divergent views at the sidelines of the ongoing two-day retreat on the amendments to the 1999 Constitution organised by the Senate Committee on Constitution Review in collaboration with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) in Kano. While some senators from the northern part of the country who spoke on the issue vehemently opposed regional form of government, their colleague from South-west described it as a welcome development that would improve the economy, tackle insecurity and fast-track infrastructural development.
Nigeria had practised a more regional form of government between 1954 and 1966, in the Western, Eastern, and Northern regions. The Mid-Western region was later carved out of the Western Region in 1963. The model lasted until 1966 when the military overthrew the civilian government.
Speaking to journalists on the issue at the retreat, a ranking Senator from Bauchi Central Senatorial District, Abdul Ningi, said his people would never support the model because they did not enjoy any form of development when the system of government was practised in the defunct First Republic. Ningi said: “I have heard so much about regional government or federalism and I have heard people going about, canvassing for such ideas. “For a start, no matter how you see it, the current document (1999 Constitution) is st.