The All Progressive Congress (APC) North Central Forum has advocated for the adoption of the regional system of government in Nigeria where every region can take care of their needs using their natural resources, educational quality, political prowess and agriculture.
Speaking with newsmen in Jos on ‘Issues of urgent national importance’ the chairman of the forum, Alhaji Saleh Mandung Zazzaga, said the call for the regional government had become necessary due to the marginalisation of the North Central region.
He said the North Central had contributed a lot to the nation, in terms of agriculture, education, natural resources, political contributions to government and emergency of national leaders, among other vital national contributions, but yet has been marginalised over the years.
The chairman said they had been marginalised politically; he said the region is also the food basket of the nation, especially from agricultural produce from Benue, Plateau, Niger, Kogi, etc, but their agricultural strength is not maximised at the national level to take care of the food security of the region.
He said that since the democratic dispensation in 1999, the region had contributed to the growth of democracy and the emergence of many national leaders but was marginalised in terms of political appointments, including the recent contentious APC national chairmanship position, which is being taken to the North West.
“So, after a careful consideration of how marginalised we have been in this nation despite our endowments and contributions to national development, we the North Central APC Forum is calling for the regional system of government.
“Since the regional system of government is a political framework where power is divided among constituent political units, such as regions or states, we are therefore calling for the adoption of such system so that each region in the nation can use their endowments to develop themselves, without any fear of marginalization,” he said.