The general overseer of northern group, known as Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has called for referandum.
The group dismissed of the alleged call for Nigerian restructuring.
saying it was not well defined by its proponents.
In the Statment made available by Punch Newspaper, the group said the North could not be intimidated.
According to Aliyu while speaking in an interview with Punch, says North preferred a referendum to determine Nigeria’s continued existence, adding that various parts of the country could go their different ways if its existence were no more desirable.
In an interview with Punch, the ACF secretary-general, Aliyu, said although the group was not afraid of restructuring, its proponents had not adequately defined it.
Aliyu stated, “The North is not afraid of restructuring. What we want is to define what is it that we want. If we want to be in Nigeria and if we don’t want to be in Nigeria, let’s sit down and agree.”
According to him, the North is looking at all options and is leaving all options open.
He stated, “We can restructure. We can become a confederation. We can devolve powers. We can have state police and all that we want. But I can tell you that the thinking of the North now is that we should have a referendum if we want Nigeria or not. If we want Nigeria, then, we must sit down and see how Nigeria will work.
“If we need the country, let’s sit down and decide that we need the country first. Then we can now sit down and decide on how our country can work for all of us. If we decide that we don’t want the country as it is, then, I mean, countries have gone apart, Czechoslovakia and quite several other countries, including Sudan, had gone apart. We don’t want to go to war.”
“The North is not going to be intimidated again to accept anything. We have to sit down and resolve whether we want this federation or this country as it is.”
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