Former Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, Monday called for reforms through review of relevant laws to ensure better governance at the state and local government levels.
Doguwa, who is the current chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), has also reiterated the call on Nigerians to shun the planned protest slated for August 1st, 2024 over challenges facing the country.
He said the governance reforms should be directed at full local government autonomy and conduct of their elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), instead of State Electoral Commissions controlled by state governors.
He made the call while addressing ‘Forum of former APC council chairmen in Kano state’ who paid him a courtesy call and noted that Nigeria is now in a tense state because of the anticipation of the plan by some youth to protest.
“And up till this moment, nobody has come out to claim that he is the organiser. Tell our youth in the APC, responsible youth, they should be reminded that protest is not the way to go. They should pray for their leaders. No responsible person should come out to protest on something that was built on deceit.
“I agree there is hardship. We represent the people and we are doing our best to help in bringing solutions to them. And because this hardship started almost 16 years ago, the truth is, it cannot be solved in just one year. It cannot be done. People should not allow themselves to be brain-washed to participate.
“Our people in Rano, Kibiya, Wudil ,Rogo or Karaye, Sumaila or Takai should not heed calls to come out from the 16 local government areas on August 1st to a protest to disparage the Kano state governor or any leader or the federal government,” he said.