The increasing number of state governors defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has drawn criticism from Dr. Sam Amadi, Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, who warned that this trend goes against the fundamental principles of Nigeria’s state formation.
Amadi reportedly voiced his worries while answering questions on Tuesday, February 3, during an interview on Arise Television.
The former chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) claims that states were established so that subnational governments may use their own resources and pursue development on their own without relying on cooperation with the federal government.
“Being able to harness your resources and development is the idea of having a state,” he stated.
According to Amadi, there is a deeper structural flaw in Nigeria’s political and economic system that is reflected in the governors’ haste to set up shop with the party at the center.
Amadi expressed worries about the consequences of the defections and asked if Nigeria was returning to an unduly centralized form of government.
“In terms of development, we have not gotten economics right,” he remarked. Are we going to return to centralization now that everyone is moving to the center?
Although Nigeria may have made some political progress, the political economist pointed out that true federalism has continued to be undermined by the lack of a workable economic structure.
He continued, “So basically, we’ve got economics wrong in terms of development and maybe politics, in some sense.”
The remarks reportedly coincide with a string of prominent governors from opposition parties defecting to the ruling APC.
The impacted states are Plateau, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Rivers, Enugu, Kano, and most recently, Taraba.
