By Davies Iheamnachor

PORT HAR-COURT—An elder statesman in Rivers State, Lawrence Jumbo, has informed President Muhammadu Buhari that revisiting the 13 percent derivation benefits to Niger Delta states was not necessary for the development of the area.

President Muhammadu Buhari new Chairman of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

Jumbo stated that the said percentage was inadequate to tackle the myriads of challenges confronting communities of the region, adding that the only panacea to developing the area was restructuring.

President Buhari had last week, when the Traditional Rulers Council of Isoko in Delta State visited him, promised to revisit the constitutional 13 percent derivation benefit to ensure an even spread of developmental projects to meet the needs of the people of the region.

However, Jumbo, who spoke  yesterday, in Port Harcourt, said Nigeria was too big to have a unitary government, stressing that some powers should be transferred to the states to help reorganise the country.

He said: “I do not think we should be talking about derivation now because we do not need derivation. What we want is restructuring of the country. Nigeria is too big to have a unitary government where everything is decided in Abuja. I think restructuring will help the country to be more efficient.

“The Federal Government has too much and it makes that position to be so powerful, that there is always a big fight to see who will be President of the country. So if the country is restructured,  some powers will devolve to the states and the states will be able to pay tax to the Federal Government.”

Jumbo  advised that states should be allowed to have their own police to curb crime, adding that the security burden on the Nigeria Police Force was much.