NATIONAL CONFAB: Northern delegates ready to die than to succumb to true federalism by south-west/south-south and south-east state creation agendas The ongoing National Conference is set for stormy sessions as northern delegates have concluded plans to shut down a critical agenda the South will table at the confab. A cross section of northern delegates, who spoke with New Telegraph yesterday, said they will fight with their last blood to ensure that the resource control agenda of the South-South, state creation of the South-East and fiscal federalism of the South-West do not see the light of the day. But prominent delegates from the South- South have renewed their campaign to restructure Nigeria along the path of fiscal federalism. The delegates which include former Minister of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, erudite scholar, Prof. Gordini Darah and Senator Yisa Braimoh, spoke with New Telegraph in separate interviews. They said that the South-South would push vehemently for the restoration of true federalism in Nigeria. The shutting down of resource control and any alteration to the present structure of government, especially state creation, are some of the issues the northern delegates last Thursday at a retreat organised by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) agreed to kill at the confab. The Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) is expected to meet tomorrow in Abuja to take a firm position on the matter. A Northern governor told our correspondent that resource control and creation of another state would not see the light of the day. “The northern governors will meet tomorrow on our position. But I can assure you that resource control will never see the light of the day. Today, we have a situation whereby a state in the South-South receives from the federation account on monthly basis what about 10 states put together get. We are against the present situation, talk less of fully controlling the resources,” the second term governor told New Telegraph. Convener, Concerned Northern Politicians, Academics, Professionals and Business, Dr. Junaid Muhammed, told New Telegraph that resource control and state creation will be dead on arrival. His words: “Absolutely certain, we won’t support resource control. We will fight it with the last drop of blood. We know the history of revenue allocation in this country. That history did not begin in 1958 when oil was discovered in Oloibiri. There was a country before 1958 before the discovery of oil and there would be a country long after the oil has finished. So, the North is not going to support resource control” When asked why the North is rejecting resource control, Muhammed, who is a delegate representing Kano State, said: “What are the reasons why the South-South is in support of resource control? Go and find a lawyer that is conversant with International Law, he will tell you that you can claim as a component part of Nigeria only what is within the 12 nautical miles or 20 kilometres of our territorial waters. Beyond that, no state in Nigeria can claim any other thing. They are claiming something belongs to them, how did they come by it? “At a conference, a former minister of oil said wherever you have oil or any hydrocarbon, it is not from that area; it emanates from somewhere, sometimes thousands of kilometres away. The process of movement takes a long years. Were they in the Niger Delta a thousand years ago? There is something called Law of the Sea Convention, go and read it. Who gave it to them? You can only claim ownership by Law. Go and see the Nigeria Constitution, go and see the Supreme Court judgement, AGF vs Abia and 35 state governments, there is a subsisting judgement on the matter. Supreme Court decision is not a market place or beer parlour decision.” Muhammed also stated that the North will vehemently oppose state creation as being canvassed by the South-East. His words: “Please convey this to every Igbo man on Nigerian soil that there won’t be state creation from this confab. No Igbo state or other state will be created. If the Igbo are claiming parity with the Yoruba, that since Yoruba has six states, they must have six states as well, they are talking nonsense. “In the former structure of the country, we had the East, North and West. The West has been spilt into six states, which we called the Yoruba states. The East has been spilt into five Igbo states and six South South states, the two is 11 now. So, these people are talking about parity, they want to be equal with the Yoruba. There will never be another Igbo state again.” Former National Publicity Secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and a delegate representing the North, Mr. Anthony Sani, said there is no way resource control can fly. “If we insist on resource control, it will create wide disparity in incomes among states and make us live as if we are in different continents. Mind you, narrowing of gaps in incomes is not only good politics but also good economics.” The former ACF spokesman also justified the North’s opposition to state creation and regional system of government. He said: “Regions with their states, police, etc, is reminiscent of confederal arrangement with weak centre that can presage split of the country. This should not be allowed. We said though creation of states has been developmental, we have reached a stage where they are not economically viable and have become mere cost centres. That is why any agitation for additional states be kept on hold until when we think they are absolutely necessary. “The idea that creation of states should be based on equality of geopolitical zones without consideration for population and landmass ignores the concept of justice, since injustice is not only when equals are treated unequally but also when unequals are treated equally.” Former Presidential Adviser on Legal matters, Prof. Auwalu Yadudu, also rules out any consensus on resource control for South- South or state creation for South-East at the confab. He said: “Our position on that is very clear, I don’t think we will support any more increase, and we’re going to bring back the issue of onshore/offshore dichotomy. It should be reversed. “For resource control, again the constitution is very clear. It says not less than 13 per cent. It could be 100 per cent, if they can go to the National Assembly to have the law changed to raise it to more than 13 per cent, good. I don’t support it though.” The Professor of Law also rules out the creation of state for the South- East. “There is nowhere in the country, where you can support the creation of only one state in only one part of the country. The constitution is very clear on this. If you want to create states, follow the constitutional provision. I can assure you, no one will support that. There were indications that the oil rich zone had started mobilising its delegates as well as their allies from the Middle Belt and other regions to support the restoration of fiscal federalism and resource control at the national conference. Clark argued that the over concentration of powers and resources at the centre has been responsible for the under development of Nigeria. He said that the push for fiscal federalism was the right thing to do for Nigeria to regain its lost glory in the comity of nations. “We want a United States of Nigeria based on true federalism. A unitary form of government is not good for us and other forms of government outside true federalism will not help us. We want a country where the regions are the federating units. “Let us have six or eight federating units. If you like, go and create 20 local government councils for yourselves; if you like, go and create 20 states for yourselves but you must be prepared to bear the cost. Let the current states become like provinces within the regions because it will be difficult to scrap them. The only thing is that their powers would be reduced and they would have nothing to discuss with the Federal Government. Darah explained that the South-South delegation would be pushing for the restoration of the federal system as it was at independence in 1960. By implication, he said, the states would be the federating units and would have 100 per cent ownership of their resources whether natural or human. “They will exploit these resources, develop and manage them and pay a tax to the Federal Government to run essential services like the Armed Forces, Immigration, Foreign and Diplomatic Services. The luggage of administrative work on the Federal Government would be vastly reduced and the development of Nigeria would be at the state and local government levels. Sometimes, it is called resource control but the scientific word is fiscal federalism. We want Nigeria restructured along that line,” he said. Senator Yisa Braimoh, who is a delegate representing South-South, told New Telegraph that the oilrich Niger Delta will insist on genuine federalism. He said: “As a delegate to the confab from the South-South zone, I am of the strong belief that delegates from Southern Nigeria will insist on a return to true and genuine federalism that would make the centre very less attractive but with strong federating regions which must be in total control of the exploitation and management of all natural resources in their regions.” Braimoh, who was Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, said true federalism will be beneficial to all the regions. President-General of Ohanaeze and a delegate representing ethnic nationality group, Chief Garry Enwo-Igariwey, said the Igbo will take a definite stand when the matter is tabled at the conference. According to Enwo-Igariwey, “We have not started talking, when we start talking, we know what people want. The matter has not been opened. There isn’t a permanent position, that is why we are going there to go and talk. The cases have not been presented, when they are presented then we will decide.” Dr. Dozie Ikedife, former President-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, an ethnic nationality delegate from the South-East, said creation of states depends on other things that happen at the conference. “Suppose we say the federating states will be the geo-political zones and not the states, then any geo-politico zones can have any number of states they want, just like we feel that local governments should not and ought not to be federating units,” he noted. Speaking on the opposition of the North to the recognition of regions as federating units and creation of addition state for the South-East, Ikedife said: “They are not serious. You can’t say states should be federating units when there is inequality in states. If the North refuses to accept regions as a federating unit and creation of states, then they are not serious. If they come with negatives, then it becomes a lock-jam.” Meanwhile, the Incorporated Trustees of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has dragged the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, Chairman of the National Conference, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi (rtd) and nine others before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja challenging the nomination of the Council’s representatives to the on-going National Conference. Also joined in the suit are Mrs. Valerie Azinge, Henry Nwabueze, Ajani Olawole James, Abdulmajeed Abdullahi, Ben Duntoye, Charles Livinus Ibiang, Hamman Birkindo, Jude Imagwe and the Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke (SAN) as third to eleventh defendants respectively.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 07:47:43 +0000
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