Nigerian Senators from both the Southern and Northern regions have shared contrasting opinions on the call for a return to a regional system of government. They shared their opinions at the sidelines of a two-day retreat on the amendments to the 1999 Constitution, organized by the Senate Committee on Constitution Review in collaboration with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) in Kano. While senators from the northern region vehemently opposed the idea, those from southern Nigeria described it as a welcome development that would improve the economy, tackle insecurity, and accelerate infrastructural development.
However, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, assured Nigerians that the issue of regionalism was not part of the ongoing constitution review. A ranking senator from Bauchi Central Senatorial District, Abdul Ningi, told journalists that his people would never support the idea because they did not experience any form of development when the system was practiced during the defunct First Republic. Ningi said, “I have heard so much about regional government or federalism, and I have heard people canvassing for such ideas.
“For a start, no matter how you see it, the current document (1999 Constitution) is still the grundnorm. It has also stipulated how it is going to be amended. “Having said that, it is also imperative to know that it isn’t just enough for anybody to come and say they are the representative of one ethnic group or another at the National Asse.
