The Yoruba Council of Elders on Thursday indicated its readiness to mobilise other geopolitical zones in the country to move for the adoption of a referendum, insisting that no amount of amendments of the constitution can move the country forward.
The elders spoke after a meeting presided over by the President of the association, Justice ‘Demola Bakre (retd.) at the YCE Secretariat in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Also at the meeting was the Secretary-General of YCE, Dr Kunle Olajide, and its National Treasurer, Akindele Aremu, among others.
“The 1999 Constitution lied against itself by claiming that it wás written by the people of Nigeria when it was written by a few people handpicked by the military administration.
“The Presidency should forward without delay a bill for introducing referendum into the constitution because sovereignty belongs to the people,” the group said.
Bakre expressed reservations on what he termed as the indifference by the Presidency to several calls made by various groups and well-meaning personalities in the country on the need for restructuring
He said, “If you continue asking for something and you don’t stop asking, you will get a good result. President Muhammadu Buhari won’t be there forever. He has less than four years to spend. Another person that is more amenable will come.”
On the resurgence of kidnapping in the South-West, the YCE Secretary-General said people in the zone should put more pressure on the state governors as the chief security officers of their various states, saying, “About a year ago, the Western Nigeria Security Network codenamed Amotekun was launched. Though, initially, the Federal Government was not comfortable with it, but now that all the state houses of assembly have made legislation and recruitment has started, we should start putting more pressure on the governors to act fast.”
