The All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum has advocated for the implementation of a regional government system in Nigeria, where each region would be able to meet its own demands through agriculture, natural resources, high-quality education, and political clout.
It further stated that the North Central region’s marginalisation has made the push for a regional government inevitable.
Speaking to reporters on Friday in Jos, the capital of the Plateau State, the forum’s chairman, Alhaji Saleh Mandung Zazzaga, made the demand over what he called “issues of urgent national importance.”
He claimed that although the North Central region has made significant contributions to the country over the years in the areas of agriculture, education, the development of natural resources, political involvement in politics, and the rise of national leaders, it has been marginalised.
They have been politically marginalised, according to the chairman. He claimed that although the region serves as the nation’s food basket thanks to agricultural products from Benue, the Plateau, Niger, Kogi, and other areas, its agricultural potential is not fully utilised at the national level to ensure the region’s food security.
In a similar vein, he claimed that although they had natural resources like tin and other endowments that can support the region’s demands economically, they have not yet been fully utilised for the people’s economic success.
Additionally, he stated that since the establishment of the democratic regime in 1999, the area has aided in the rise of numerous presidents and national leaders, but has been marginalised in terms of political appointments—take the recent controversy surrounding the APC National Chairmanship, which was moved to the North West.
The North Central APC Forum is requesting the regional system of administration in light of how marginalised we have remained in this country despite our resources and contributions to its growth.
“We are calling for the adoption of a regional system of government so that every region in the country can use their endowments to develop themselves without any fear of marginalisation, since the regional system of government is a political framework where power is divided among constituent political units, such as regions or states.
“In the meantime, the regions would have the authority to govern their own areas, and the federal government would remain in charge of matters like foreign policy, national security, and the regulation of interstate or interregional commerce,” he stated.
According to Zazzaga, their goal is to improve the North Central Zone. They are actively involved in starting political and economic initiatives that will help the area, and they won’t let up until they get the desired outcome.
Regardless of their political or ethnic affinities, Zazzaga claimed that as devoted APC leaders, they have been collaborating with leaders of other parties and regional stakeholders to advance the prosperity of the North Central area.
He clarified that it is OK to use their platform to promote the North Central area, pointing out that party or regional forums exist among governors, lawmakers, and chairmen of local governments to advance their shared interests.
