THE TIDE

Ijaw national leader and the convener of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, has slammed former Ogun State Governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba, for allegedly denigrating the agitation for the restructuring of Nigeria.
Clark, in a statement made available to the media in Warri last Wednesday, also said the attempts by Chief Osoba to bury the importance of the 2014 National Conference and replace same with the El-Rufai Committee Report, was unsavoury.
According to him, suggesting the replacement of the confab with a committee report was equivalent to sacrificing national interest on the altar of partisan politics.
Clark’s statement, titled “Chief Segun Osoba at 80; and the question of Restructuring” opened by congratulating the ex-governor for clocking 80 years, before going on to reflect on his comment at the event of the ceremony that marked the celebration.
The PANDEF leader recalled that he (Chief Osoba) was part of the process that produced the 2014 National Conference Report; pointing out that the call for restructuring is primarily targeted at ensuring that the subject of true federalism is given proper attention and eventually allowed in Nigeria, has always been a topic of issue in the country.
He added that as a senior citizen, close to President Muhammadu Buhari, he (Chief Osoba) was expected to lend his voice to achieving the adoption of the confab report by the Nigerian government.
He said: “I read Chief Osoba’s comments, during the launch of his book, titled: ‘Battlelines: Adventures in Journalism and Politics’, to mark his 80th birthday, he was reported to have declared that ‘those shouting restructuring should realise that the power rests with the National Assembly”.