The immediate-past President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, has warned that Nigeria might run into a constitutional crisis if it fails to restructure before the 2023 general election as some sections of the country might boycott the polls as a result of the growing dissatisfaction in the land.
Nwodo who spoke while delivering a pre-convocation lecture marking the 27th/28th convocation of the Abia State University Uturu said that only restructuring could guarantee Nigeria’s continued unity.
”We must do all we can to restructure the next election in 2023 because the level of dissatisfaction in the country as evidenced by the#EndSARS protest gives one the impression that any delay may lead to a mass boycott or disruption of the next elections to the point that we may have a more serious constitutional crisis of a nation without a government”, Nwodo warned.
The former Information Minister and Presidential hopeful insisted that ” Nigeria must restructure to give its component units sovereignty over its natural resources provided they pay a royalty or some form of taxation to the federal government to maintain federal responsibilities”.
He also stressed the need to maintain Nigeria’s secular configuration, give attention to agriculture and education with an emphasis on renascent digital orientation.
” Domestic security must remain in the hands of the federating units. The secularity of the Nigerian state must be respected. These irreducible minimum conditions are not negotiable.”
He warned that Nigeria’s disintegration was not unlikely if the above conditions were not met.
” If it does not happen, we will have no alternative but to go our separate ways.
” Process to begin our restructuring as a nation must be concluded before the 2023 elections so as to avert a situation where sections of the country may boycott the elections and present the country with a constitutional force majeure.”
