ABUJA — Former Vice President and a chieftain of All Progressives Congress, APC, Atiku Abubakar, has commended the resolution of APC Progressive Governors Forum, which called for restructuring and true federalism of Nigeria, saying the issue transcended religion and ethnicity.

Former Vice President and presidential aspirant of All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar

He also described as patriotic the convergence of positions around restructuring by leaders from diverse regions of the country.

According to him,  this confirms that he (Atiku Abubakar) is not just a lone voice in the wilderness in the inevitability of restructuring of Nigeria for the good of all.

The former vice president in a statement issued by his Media Office in Abuja, yesterday, explained that the agitation for secession would not have arisen if the country had shown sincere readiness to address the underlying problems that fed the agitations by separatist forces.

According to Abubakar, the restructuring debate transcends the ambition of any single politician in Nigeria.

He said any attempt to ignore the agitations could make a bad situation more complicated, stressing that with so much hate, distrust, suspicions and fears in the country, political leaders should not be afraid to confront the challenge.

He said the current federal structure should be freely discussed by allowing the federating units voice their grievances with a view to finding workable solutions that would protect the rights and interests of all.

Abukakar said the country could not afford to allow bottled-up frustrations of the people to explode into violence, and threaten not only innocent lives, but also harm the country’s economic assets.