‘Restructuring will ensure unity, equity and justice’

Two-time Governor of Plateau State Senator Jonah Jang has joined the campaign for restructuring. A former presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), he insists a brand new constitution is the only way to ensure justice, equity and fair play among all ethnic nationalities that make up the country. In this interview with KOLADE ADEYEMI, the retired soldier also speaks about the security situation in the country

 

 

You were among the stakeholders from various ethnic nationalities that gave the Federal Government an ultimatum to dismantle the 1999 Constitution and restructure the country. Why do you think there is inbalance in the Constitution?

The truth of the matter is that there is no way the military can draw a constitution that will serve the need for a democratic setup. Unfortunately, that is the situation that we find ourselves in Nigeria today. No matter how much we keep amending this constitution, it will not conform to the wishes and aspirations of the people. The first page of the constitution, if you read it, says ‘we the people of Nigeria’. Maybe, it should have read: “we the soldiers of Nigeria,” give you the people this constitution. The fact that it says we the People of Nigeria, which Nigerians made to draw the Constitution. After I retired, I attended a constitutional conference set up by the late Gen. Sani Abacha in 1994. If you bring out that document as presented to Gen. Abacha, it was very beautiful. It suggested the idea of geopolitical zones that we now have but we didn’t recommend North Central, it was Middle Belt but it came out as North Central. These are some of the things that the military will thinker and come up with what they want. If you look at the creation of states and local governments by the military, it was the most lopsided thing they have done. The number of local governments in Kano and Jigawa and Bayelsa and the federal constituencies in Kano and Jigawa are more than the ones in the entire Southeast. How do you balance the debate in the House of Representatives? It is very clear that Nigeria needs to be restructured. For me, I love Nigeria as a country and as a nation and that is why we fought the civil war; to make Nigeria as one, but Nigeria is not one today. We are a country; there is no indication of any sort that Nigeria is a nation. People are only preoccupied with their states, their region and their ethnic nationalities. Besides, there is a complete imbalance in the National Assembly. Take Plateau that I governed for eight years, for instance. How can you have a federal constituency of Jos South and Jos East compared to Wase? Look at the population of Jos South, the population of Wase is three or four times more than that of Jos South, yet, you bring them together to form one constituency. Look at Jos North, with the highest voting population; it is joined together with Bassa, another heavily-populated local government, to form one federal constituency. How can you have a balanced debate in the House of Representatives? It is the states that have the highest number of constituencies that dictate whatever happens in the House of Representatives. Also, when it comes to joint meetings between the House of Representatives and the Senate to pass a bill or make a decision, it is what the House says that overrides because the number of the senators is far lower. So, you can see that we are running a unitary constitution in a federal system. What we are saying is that we are not dictating what Nigerians should accept, but Nigerians should be given the opportunity and then, the government of the federation today can bring us together, based on our ethnic nationalities, interest groups and so on, to look at the restructuring of this country. It was my main agenda when I ran for the Presidency in 2019. There is no way we can develop this country under this kind of structural imbalance where so much power is concentrated in the hands of the president. Yet, they say we are running a federation, but in reality, the states are running cap in hand to the president for so many things. You can imagine that a governor who is the Chief Security Officer of his state cannot command the Commissioner of Police until he takes directive from the Federal Government. In fact, a governor is a captive in his own state. A decision can be taken about even his life somewhere and he will not know; thank God that has never happened, but it is as bad as that. If we are going to run a federal system, then, we must share power between the federating units and the Federal Government should handle what is purely federal; that is the control of the armed forces, foreign affairs and other things that the state cannot directly handle. Let me say this that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture do not own any state, but every year so much money is voted for agriculture. I have been governor in this country for 11 years, three years in the military and eight years under democracy. Even though during the military, when you are appointed into that office, you are under orders, but now with the democratic setup, what is the Federal Ministry of Agriculture doing with so much money when agriculture is at the state and at the local government level? Education should be the state and the private sector if you take the constitution and look at the powers that are given to the centre and the powers that are given to state and local governments, I don’t know the country that has this type of our constitution, even in Africa, the way Nigeria is. We are trying to reawaken Nigerians to see the reason why we are not progressing; we are not progressing because power has not been given to the right areas where it should be exercised for the good of the people at the grassroots.  I believe that Nigerians should be given an opportunity to debate our coexistence so that we can become a nation. We cannot just remain a country with a collection of ethnic groups that cannot really decide properly. What Plateau people want might not be what Kano people want, but when you ask Plateau people to go and push their case, they are over-ruled. I will tell you about one area that I am still very angry about. Crisis started here on the Plateau and before you know it, there were crises in some parts of the country. They brought a bill to bring the North East Development Commission (NEDC) and we said the Middle Belt should also be given the same thing, but they voted us out. We requested to be included in the NEDC, they equally over-ruled us. Our people are here today, not in their homes; they are refugees in their states. Nobody is talking about them. What is our future as a people? This is because they have more numbers; they take what they want and over-rule what they want to over-rule. What kind of a constitution do we have that allow such injustice? We have set the tone for the debate for the nation and I hope the government of today will allow Nigerians to debate restructuring, the imbalance in the constitution so that we can explore whatever legal way we can use to amend the constitution. If it means from article one to the end, let it be done.

What is your own position on presidential zoning?

The North has turned out to be one zone that produces the presidency and that is the Northwest. Even now, they are gearing up towards 2023. If rotation is what Nigerians want, then, the political parties must review it. I will say it here; I don’t mince my words. When I was running for the Presidency in 2019, I went to see one of the top leaders in this country and you know the Presidency has always been rotated between the major tribes, except when Jonathan got it because of the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua. That was by accident. If you recall, just to allow him to act, prior to the death of Yar’Adua was war. A particular leader told me that it was good that I was aspiring to be president, but he added that I cannot make it because he cannot see how a Christian minority will win an election in Nigeria. This is the first time I am saying this out. It has come to a time that we have to start speaking out. So, if there is going to be a rotation of the presidency, then, it has to be between the North, the Middle Belt and the South otherwise, no Middle Belter can be president. I didn’t hear it as a rumour; I was told face-to-face. It means no Middle Belt minority can be president. President Jonathan, who is a minority from the Southsouth, got it by accident and that was why he was removed; he wasn’t allowed to complete his tenure by running a second tenure. So, the chapter for us the minority is closed, as far as restructuring is not done and this rotation remains as it is today. The Middle Belt cannot be joined with the North; it is unacceptable to us. If it goes to the North, that means the Northwest. After all, when they were looking for NEDC, they didn’t help us to get it at the Middle Belt; they left us to fight our own battle. I want the political parties to zone the presidency to the Middle Belt. We are not part of the North when it comes to rotation. But, we want the presidency in the Middle Belt in 2023, if possible.

How can PDP bounce back to power?

Tell me which political party is without crisis. When the ruling APC had to draft a serving governor to be their Acting National Chairman against the 1999 Constitution (as amended). If a governor wants to be a chairman, he must resign as governor. That is why I said they used the constitution the way it suits them. Coming to the PDP, every party has internal problems. But, I will tell you the problems of political parties in Nigeria generally. It is this lack of internal democracy. When you look at the problems in some states, some people cannot even deliver their wards, but they will tell you that they are being cheated. What do they want? That we should sit down and share positions and yet, they will be the first to cry that there is no internal democracy. How is the PDP getting ready to take over power in 2023? I want to say that the ground will only be conducive for free and fair elections when INEC truly becomes independent. For our democracy to succeed, the judiciary and INEC must be independent, no matter what. But, we are still hopeful that the PDP will succeed President Buhari in 2023.

Governor Yahaya Bello who is from the Middle Belt has declared his ambition to contest the presidency in 2023. What is your stake on this?

I hope Governor Bello is not just running because the constitution gives citizens right to run. Yes, the constitution does that, but in reality, I have been told that as a minority I cannot make it. He is also a minority. However, I don’t know if APC will allow him to run successfully as a minority from the Middle Belt. I wish him well.