President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, argued that many Nigerians do not know what restrucuring actually means.
He, however, assured that he would not hesitate to give assent to any amendments to the 1999 Constitution on restructuring.
Buhari spoke when the National Executive of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), led by Prof Benjamin Okaba, visited him at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
On calls for restructuring, the President noted that the National Assembly, whose responsibility it is to amend the constitution, had concluded regional consultations.
“As soon as they finalise the process, necessary action would not be delayed on my part,” he said.
He added that “those who are discussing restructuring, my question is, what are you going to restructure?
“If you ask many Nigerians what they are going to restructure, you will find out that they have nothing to talk about.
“Some of them have not even studied the 1999 Constitution. The 1999 Constitution is almost 70 to 80 per cent 1979 Constitution.”
A statement by presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, also quoted the President as saying: “Make sure that we keep working together to keep this country a united, indivisible entity so that we can tackle our problems together and overcome our challenges together.”
Responding to other requests by the INC, the President said the creation of two additional states and more local government areas for the Ijaw are to be handled by the National Assembly.
He praised the INC leadership for affirming its belief in a united Nigeria.
