Afenifere Faults Buhari’s Democracy Day Speech, Asks Him to Send Bill to NASS on Restructuring
- Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, has reacted to the speech made by President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday, June 12, to mark 2021 Democracy Day
- Comrade Jare Ajayi, the national publicity secretary of Afenifere, in a statement he issued on Sunday, June 13, said the speech did not reflect current happening in Nigeria
- According to him, the president should show commitment by sending a bill to the National Assembly on restructuring
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The pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, has described the recent public pronouncements of President Muhammadu Buhari as far short of what was expected of the number one citizen of the country.
In a statement issued on Sunday, June 13, by Afenifere national publicity secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, and seen by Legit.ng, the group noted that the speech exposed the Buhari administration as one bent on taking steps that are not in the best interests of the majority of Nigerians.
Source: Facebook
Afenifere was reacting to the speech made by the president to mark 2021 June 12 Democracy Day and the interviews he granted on Thursday, June 10 and Friday, June 11, on Arise Television and the NTA.
The group expressed its disappointment on the disclosure by the president that he had directed the minister of justice and attorney-general of the federation to ‘re-open' the grazing routes throughout the country.
The statement read:
“We have some questions for Mr. President and the attorney-general in this respect. One, who created the so-called grazing routes? At what time in our history did our founding fathers gather to designate specific routes from the north to the south as ‘grazing routes."
"Two, assuming without conceding, that there were so-called grazing routes, what would now happen to structures that have been built in areas where the so-called routes are to be re-opened."
It added that the president’s pronouncement on this issue as well as his confession on how he determines who occupies positions at the national level seems to indicate that his government is operating a constitution that is different from the 1999 constitution.
Ajayi noted:
“For instance, section 2 of the Land Use Act, the law governing land matters in the country, vests the administration and control of lands in a given state in the hands of the governor of the state."
President Buhari must show commitment to restructuring
Afenifere further challenged President Buhari to, as a matter of urgency; send a bill to the National Assembly on restructuring and devolution of power if he wants Nigerians to believe that he meant what he says.
The group's spokesman was referring to the president’s speech in which he stated that he was a firm believer in devolving power to the people and that it was the National Assembly that can deal with the issue of restructuring and devolution of power.
On Buhari’s claim that his administration has not done badly as he challenged Nigerians to compare what is obtainable now with that of 2015 when he took over, Afenifere declared that Nigerians were far better off in virtually everything in 2015 than they are presently.
Afenifere noted that President Buhari seems to derive pleasure in shifting blames and responsibilities when pressed on what his government ought to do.
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Buhari says he is ready to die for Nigeria
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari in the early hours of Saturday, June 12, addressed Nigerians on the occasion of the 2021 Democracy Day.
It was reported that he highlighted some of the key performances of administration and security challenges among other issues.
President Muhammadu Buhari also vowed to defend the corporate existence of Nigeria as a single entity and also to bequeath a free and fair election in 2023.
Source: Legit.ng
