Fashola, El'Rufai, and Amaechi on True Federalism and State Police Not Too Long Ago

Fashola Advocates True Federalism for Nigeria - PM News April 30, 2013.

“The 36 state governors are demanding a truer federal system in terms of fiscal and political federalism. I associate myself with this demand in its entirety”.

“The realization of these demands on their own may not necessarily leapfrog us into El Dorado, but without them, the journey will be tortuous. If they materialize, they liberate the possibilities that lie inherent in the diverse capacities that the Nigerian states and local governments are blessed with”,  “In that event, the Federal Government will not be without authority or responsibility but, in my view, it will be better able to co-ordinate the diversities for mutual prosperity”.

"Although the post-colonial era when Nigeria practiced Parliamentary Democracy with three semi-autonomous regions was not without its problems, the economy was stable as each region kept the bulk of its resources and contributed to the central government to enable it to carry out its national responsibilities."

“The system was not without its problems. But we had stable electricity. We had more food – enough to eat and enough to export. Illiteracy levels were higher but there was evidence to show that it was being addressed. Our universities had more learning in them and acquired a respectable reputation”.

"Things began to fall apart for the country when the Military intervened in governance. “We quickly began to lose our luster. The military came in and unified the regions and things have never been quite the same since.”

“Although we have a “Federal Government” the constitution was written by the Military. So we have state courts where judges are picked by the Federal Government. We have state legislators but no state police to enforce the laws they make. 

There are no state prisons, so we rely on Federal officers to police our states and keep convicted persons away from law-abiding citizens. We have Federal Traffic Safety Officers to issue Driver’s Licenses to drivers in the state and also seek to regulate municipal traffic inside the states.” 

Governor Fashola said the Federal Government, in order to maintain its financial hold on the federating states, keeps 52 percent of the nation’s resources leaving the 36 federating states with 26 percent while 774 local governments share only 20 percent of the resource among them monthly."

“The debate, therefore, is not only about the cost of such a large government but also about its effectiveness." 

“These are the structural challenges of the Government that we must overcome. They sum up the demand for a truer federal union that is being demanded by the 36 state governors in terms of fiscal and political federalism.”

Between Terrorism and Corruption by El'Rufai - Sahara Reporters, May 10, 2012.

El Rufai on True Federalism

“As a medium-term, structural measure, we must work to restore our federalism to the broad outlines embedded in the 1963 republican constitution, devolving more powers and responsibilities to the states and making the federal government less of a busy body. This would require that states like Bauchi whose annual internally-generated revenue is N7 billion should not run a government costing N58 billion because of monthly hand-outs from Abuja. Each state should learn to live within its means and seek to actively develop its comparative endowments. State governors will then be compelled to use their resources better and not point fingers at the federal government.”

True Federalism: The plots of our governors - Vanguard, August 22, 2010.

Governor Amaechi on True Federalism

Speaking at the recent retreat organized by the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, SCCR, in Asaba, the Delta State Capital, Governor Amaechi said: “We want the Federal Government to reduce the responsibilities that they have as well as the resources that they have because I am first of all a Rivers citizen before I became a Nigerian.” Making one of the strongest arguments for State Police that day, Amaechi said: “I used Rivers resources to train 300 policemen; these policemen were trained by the Israelis. We had an understanding with the police authorities in Abuja that they will remain in Rivers for some time after their training. But the moment a certain IGP came, just because he did not like a certain Amaechi, he posted the policemen out. But if we have State police, such a thing will never happen.”