BREAKING: El-Rufai says Nigeria must return to 1963 constitution

Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has advocated a restructuring of the sharing formula of Nigeria’s revenue in favour of states.

He said if the revenue sharing is reversed to 20 per cent for the federal government and 80 per cent for states, the federal government will then relinquish most of its current responsibilities to the states.

El-Rufai, who spoke at the policy and book presentation in Abuja on Tuesday by Dr. Zainab Usman, Director of the Carnegie Africa Programme, said the new formula will be the only way citizens can hold governors to account.

“If we reverse the revenue allocation and the federal government has only 20 per cent, and 80 per cent goes to the states, then you go to the exclusive list and revert to the 1963 Constitution where the FG had limited functions and most of the functions went to the states.

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“If your general hospitals don’t work, if your primary schools don’t work, if your secondary schools don’t work, and so on. You ask your governor. Then things will begin to change. The states will have enough resources to compete, just like in the days of regional governments,” he said.