Ologunagba Decries No Functional Government For Seven Months

The National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Debo Ologunagba has proposed amending the nation’s constitution to make sure that the court rules on all election petitions before the newly elected president is sworn in.

He claimed that President Bola Tinubu was unable to focus on governance during the first seven months of his government due to his distraction or preoccupation with electoral petitions.

According to him, this is one of the factors contributing to the current economic crisis the country is experiencing.

He said that there has never been a better moment to reconstruct the nation than now, given the current economic crisis.

The nation is struggling with an increase in non-state actors killing people and kidnapping them for ransom. Many Nigerians have also had hardships as a result of the rising cost of food.

Expressing his thoughts on the state of the nation, Ologunagba said, “I understand the National Assembly is discussing constitutional reforms, and as a party, we are organising ourselves. One of the issues we will seek to amend is the electoral law. We will advocate that elected officials be sworn in only after the conclusion of all legal battles.

“There is hardship and insecurity because the government was not active. During the first seven months of this administration, we were in court, so the government did not function; it was preoccupied with protecting itself. Consequently, in a four-year tenure, we lost nine months to litigation.

“Additionally, we need to address true federalism. Why should local governments be enshrined in the constitution? This fosters incompetence, favoritism, and complacency. For example, Kano State has 44 local governments, Lagos State has 20, and Katsina has 34. These disparities contribute to the injustices in our country, necessitating restructuring.

“Now is the opportune moment to restructure the country. Restructuring has always been the stance of the PDP. We discussed restructuring when we were in power but didn’t take concrete steps to implement it. If initiated now, it could help alleviate some of the current national challenges.”

“Even our presidential candidate had a document on restructuring. Since the 2014 Conference under former President Goodluck Jonathan, we’ve been advocating restructuring. However, the same individuals in the All Progressives Congress opposed it.

“We initiated it because our country is diverse — linguistically, religiously, and ethnically. The only way to progress and tackle these challenges is through restructuring. It will instill a sense of ownership and belonging across all sectors,” he added.

In a swift response, the National Publicity Director of the APC, Bala Ibrahim, has blamed the PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, for boggling the Tinubu administration with electoral litigation.

Ibrahim further implored the National Assembly to consider the constitutional amendment request on its own merits and not allow the opposing party’s views to influence its decision.

“I hope the PDP included the name of its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, among the signatories to those who are advocating constitutional amendment. If they are not doing that, it means they are being forgetful of history. Political and electoral litigation have never been extended or exploited by anyone more than Atiku Abubakar.

“The PDP needs to look inwards; the answer to the problem is with them because the biggest culprit when it comes to lengthen litigation as far as presidential elections are concerned is Atiku. He contested the most and lost the most. He is always the one who drags his case from the tribunal all the way to the Supreme Court.

“They need to do a conscience amendment before urging the National Assembly to do any constitutional amendment. The NASS should look into the issue on its merits and not on sentiments before taking a decision.”