Rotational presidency: LG boss wants constitution amended

BY Chinenyeh Ozor

NSUKKA—The National Assembly, NASS,  has been urged to amend the 1999 Constitution to accommodate rotational presidency as the only panacea for peace in the country.

Chairman of Igboeze South Local Government Area of Enugu State, Mr Festus Ozioko who made the suggestion also called for the convocation of a Soverign National Conference, SNC,  to cement the unity between the various ethnic groups in the country.

Ozioko spoke in an interview with Vanguard, saying that the twin issues of zoning and SNC should be addressed to ensure the growth of democracy in the country.  He said: “The people should not be afraid of SNC as it will ensure long term solutions to the problems in Nigeria.”

He further explained that since the return of democracy in the country in 1999, there have been steady progress at the federal, state and local government levels, pointing out that this was why no group or groups had agitated for forceful take over of government, adding that enshrining rotational presidency in the constitution would stop political uprisings with different names and shapes, as it would address the problem of rulership since every section would quietly wait for its turn instead of causing unnecessary distraction in the name of ethnic agitation among others.

Ozioko attributed the militancy in the Niger Delta and Boko Haram insurgency in the North to issues related to the preidency pointing out that rotation was necessary to resolve the problem.

He also called on the NASS to revisit the issue of revenue allocation to the three tiers of government to ensure rapid development at all levels just as he said he had approved the ‘’construction and  asphalting of Ovoko-Iheaku Awka, Ibagwa-Aka, Alor-Agu, Unadu and Itchi roads’’ saying that the projects would be completed before the end of his tenure.

‘’We are paying special attention to human development. We will fish out talents and recognise them.  We will set up skill acquisition centers to empower youths on different skills than leaving them to roam the streets looking for white none existent collar jobs.

’’We are anxious to energize the communities and we will soon distribute over 20 electric transformers to some of them as well as cite a health centre each  in all the communities in our area.

’’Water has been a challenging factor in Igbo-Eze South but efforts are on to sink boreholes to ease the suffering of people that trek for long distances to fetch water ,’’ he added.

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Rotational presidency: LG boss wants constitution amended