Femi Adesina, the Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, says the issue of restructuring is not the President’s priority right now though it will come later.

Adesina was responding to questions on Channels Television on how the President intends to deal with the agitations in several quarters for the restructuring of the country.

According to Adesina, since the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has said that restructuring is part of the things the party intend to tackle, then it means the President would eventually tackle the issue.

“We need to also put in perspective what the party (APC) has said about restructuring,” Adesina said.

“You know the President came on the platform of that party, for now a President derives his legitimacy from his party.

“And what has the party said? The National Chairman has said that restructuring is one of the things the party will do, but it’s not in the order of priority for now.

“The priorities are: securing the country, reviving the economy and fighting corruption. Later, restructuring will come up.

“Don’t forget that the party itself has set up a committee to look into the issue of restructuring. If it didn’t intend to do something about it, why set up a committee?

“So you can be sure that it’s something that will come up later in the order of priority.”

He reiterated that Buhari will not tolerate any threat to the unity of Nigeria.

“He described some people [during his speech] as irresponsible, that’s the first step he’s taking, which means that any threat to the nation’s unity will be dealt with.

“It’s just a frank word [the term ‘irresponsible’]. If somebody is irresponsible, he is irresponsible. You know the President is a straight-forward man and just said it the way it is.”

Adesina, however, did not rule out the possibility of dialogue between the federal government and the people whom the President considers “irresponsible”.

“Discussions, negotiations are vital parts of National building. So you can be sure that if the President needs to discuss with anybody, he will do it,” he said.

“The Acting President started that process while he was away, and when he receives full briefing, if he thinks there’s still anybody to parley with, you can be sure it will happen.”