The Secretary-General, Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), Kunle Olajide has tasked President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure true federalism and national unity in his next government.
Olajide told newsmen that the president needed to return the nation to the era of revenue generation and not sharing of allocation.
It was gathered that Olajide is also a retired medical practitioner and a traditional title holder in Ibadan land.
“I have written a congratulatory letter to the president on his re-election and assured him of YCE’s support for his administration towards achieving a greater Nigeria.
“In the letter, I told him that his victory carries enormous responsibilities among which were the need to ensure national unity and a revisit of the El-Rufai’s committee report on restructuring.
“The president has replied the letter, appreciating it and the in-depth suggestions.
“He assured me that the suggestions will be given adequate cognisance,” he said.
The YCE leader said the nation could achieve rapid growth and development with true federalism which allowed devolution of powers.
He stressed that the decisions of the Gov. Nasir El-Rufai-led committee on restructuring set up by Buhari’s administration in 2017 was far-reaching, calling on the president to revisit the report.
“We have to gradually move back to the period of generating revenue and not sharing revenue.
“Each federating unit should be allowed to exploit and explore its resources.
“They should then pay an agreed percentage to maintain few essential services in the centre such as Defence, Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Custom services,” he said.
Olajide said that there were only 14 items on the exclusive list in the First Republic and the rest were residual for the states.
According to him, “today, there are 66 items on the exclusive list. The intervention of the military in 1966 truncated the march to true federalism.
“So, in the next four years, Buhari should be able to finish the process, foundation and implementation of the El-Rufai’s committee recommendations.
“I think it is very essential that the report is implemented as a first step to entrench a true federal system of government.”
