The National Chairman of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Ambassador Godknows Igali, has called for the restoration of true fiscal federalism, saying Nigeria’s over-centralised system has weakened productivity, security and accountability.
Igali made the call on Monday in Abuja at the summit of the Concerned Citizens Assembly, organised by the Citizens Rebirth and Awareness Initiative (C-RAIN).
Participants at the summit examined governance, federalism, development and national unity, with a proposal for the creation of 15 regions as part of a restructuring framework.
Igali said Nigeria’s founding fathers deliberately negotiated a federal system that allowed regions to develop based on their resources, priorities and peculiar circumstances without excessive dependence on the Federal Government.
He cited the development of free primary education and Cocoa House by the Western Region, industries by the Eastern Region, and agriculture and educational institutions by the Northern Region as examples of what the regional system achieved.
‘The regions also developed educational institutions and other productive sectors. They achieved significant progress without waiting for monthly allocations from the centre or direct federal intervention.
‘That was the dream: a federation of strong, productive units paying dues to a limited but effective centre,’ he said.
Igali criticised state governors for failing to translate regional cooperation into concrete economic development, and called for constitutional amendments to devolve powers, strengthen fiscal federalism, restore greater resource control and guarantee local government autonomy.
He also urged greater cooperation among Nigeria’s federating units to promote sustainable development.
Igali, however, cautioned that restructuring should not be equated with disintegration, saying reforms should strengthen national unity and improve the effectiveness and accountability of the federation.
‘Let us not separate ourselves under ethnicity; let us not separate ourselves under religion. Those lines should be the basis for constructive discussion,’ he said.
The Convener of the Concerned Citizens Assembly, Owolabi Oladejo, said restructuring was no longer a political option but a national survival strategy.
He said Nigeria’s highly centralised political structure had become increasingly incapable of responding effectively to the realities of a complex and diverse federation.
Oladejo said the country’s challenges could not be resolved merely by changing political leaders, stressing the need to review the fundamental architecture of governance.
He called for a new federal compact based on consent, stronger regions, fiscal responsibility and constitutional reform.
Similarly, the General Secretary of The Rebirth Group (TRG) and Citizens for Restructured Nigeria (CRN), Ali Ocheni, said consultations across the six geopolitical zones showed widespread concern over excessive centralisation of power.
Ocheni said the groups consulted citizens in Ibadan, Kaduna, Enugu, Gombe, Port Harcourt and Jos between May 2024 and March 2026 on governance reforms and Nigeria’s political future.
He said the consultations identified excessive concentration of executive authority at the federal level as a major factor behind the country’s poor economic performance and weakened unity.
Ocheni said delegates favoured a return to a regional federal structure similar to that established under the 1963 Constitution.
Following the consultations, the group proposed 15 regions: Akwa Ibom, Igbo, Ane-Igala, Bendel, Benue, Cross River, Dalla, Ijaw, Kanem, Niger, Plateau-Gurara, Rima, Rivers, Savannah and Yoruba.
Oladejo said the Abuja summit would deliberate on the proposals before transmitting them to relevant authorities.