In the view of Dr. Junaid Mohammed, a delegate representing Kano State at the on going National Conference “Nigeria has ‘federal units’ and not ‘federating units’ as proponents of fiscal federalism would want others to believe. What is it they call fiscal federalism? Why are we talking about federating units as opposed to federal units? Federating units are quasi-independent countries that agreed to come together and devolve certain powers to a federal or central government.” “They would also agree to devolve certain financial control commensurate to the powers devolved to the central government,” Mohammed noted. “Every state in Nigeria today is not a federating unit, it is a federal state. It is a creation of the Federal Government. If the Federal Government decides to withhold money generated by it, it is justified in law. The states, which make up our federal system today, are a creation of the fiat of the Federal Government.” Mohammed said “he and his northern colleagues were prepared to build a consensus with delegates from every part of the country on issues of common national interest,” but that “they were not prepared to ‘indulge anyone’ whose idea was based on narrow, self-serving interests.”
Posted on: Wed, 23 Apr 2014 16:59:23 +0000