Nigerians divided on implementation of national confab recommendations

ABUJA - As part of his efforts to strengthen national unity and consolidate Nigeria’s democracy, President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated the National Conference on March 17. The conference, chaired by Justice Idris Kutigi, a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, has 492 delegates and it is expected to articulate and coordinate the views and thoughts of Nigerians, with a view to building a stronger, united, peaceful and stable nation. In his address at the inauguration, Jonathan said the conference was convened to engage in intense introspection on the political and socio-economic challenges confronting the nation. He added that the conference was to chart the best and most acceptable ways to resolve such challenges, in the collective interest of all the constituent parts of the federation. At the end of their four-month-deliberation, the delegates reached consensus on wide-ranging recommendations made by the 20 standing committees of the conference. Some of the recommendations include the creation of 18 new states and an additional state for the South-East geopolitical zone, the zoning of elective positions at all levels of government, the establishment of state police, and the establishment of a commission to address the plight of FCT indigenes Others are scrapping of state/local government joint account, scrapping of state independent electoral commissions, removal of fuel subsidy and removal of immunity clause, among others. The delegates, however, failed to reach consensus on the contentious issues of resource control and derivation principle for the Niger Delta region, which was contained in the main report of the Committee on Devolution of Power. They were also unable to agree on two new issues: the proposed 5 per cent of the national income, each for the development of mineral resources across the federation and for the special intervention fund for national emergencies. Prior to the adjournment of plenary session on July 14, there was intense debate amongst Nigerians on who should implement recommendations of the conference. While some school of thought suggested that the recommendations should be forwarded to the National Assembly for consideration and passage into law, others believed that that they should be subjected to a referendum before their inclusion in the constitution. Alhaji Balarabe Musa, the National Chairman, Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), however, said that the recommendations should not be subjected to referendum on the grounds that most of them were ``superficial”. ``The recommendations of the conference are so superficial and they are not worth being subjected to a referendum. ``This is because the delegates were supposed to deal with the negative state of the nation,’’ he added. Musa said that instead of dealing with the negative state of the nation, the delegates only dealt with the consequences of the negative state of the nation. He noted that corruption, organised violence, insecurity and unemployment were some of the factors that contributed to the negative state of the country. The CNPP chairman expressed disappointment that the socio-economic and political system as well as the leadership produced by the system, which promoted self-interest above public interest was not dealt with by the delegates. He, however, suggested that as a way out, the National Assembly could regard the recommendations as public hearing. Conversely, Mr Gilbert Agbo, the National Secretary, New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), said that the recommendations should not be forwarded to the National Assembly for passage into law, since some of the recommendations were not in favour of the legislators. He stressed that Nigerians should be allowed to decide on the recommendations via referendum organized to determine their acceptance or rejection since ``power derives from the people”. Mr Sam Eke, the National Chairman, Citizens Popular Party (CPP), who shared a similar viewpoint with Balarabe Musa, said that the recommendations should be forwarded to the National Assembly for consideration, amendment and passage into law. He said that those advocating referendum were just ``trying to build something on nothing.” [eap_ad_1] All the same, Prof. Itse Sagay, a constitutional lawyer, said that the recommendations should be subjected to a referendum to create give room for a new constitution. He said that there was no need to nurse a fear that there was no provision for referendum in the constitution. He noted that in as much as there was no provision in the constitution for referendum, there was also no provision declaring it illegal. ``There is no provision in the constitution which prohibits referendum either; so if it doesn’t prohibit it, why can’t we do it. It cannot be illegal. ``The constitution doesn’t say we can pray and have breakfast but we still do it. ``So, the constitution doesn’t have to tell you everything you have to do as long as it does not prohibit it,” he said. Sagay, nonetheless, rejected the notion that the recommendations should not be sent to the National Assembly, saying that the legislature was only established to amend constitutional provisions and not to introduce a new constitution. ``The recommendations should not be sent to the National Assembly because it does not have the capacity to change our law in such a fundamental way. ``The power it has is only to alter some provisions of the constitution but where you have fundamental changes, it should be done through referendum. We should go for a new constitution,” he said. On the other hand, Mr Jibrin Okutepa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), suggested that the recommendations should be sent to National Assembly, which would consider them and pass a bill that would be forwarded to the president to sign into law. He, however, stressed that the recommendations could not be subjected to a referendum, as there was no provision for referendum in the constitution. ``If the recommendations are forwarded to the National Assembly; fine, but if they are to be sent to the people for referendum, under which law are you sending them to the people? ``Maybe the long and short of it could be that the president will collate the views and put them in the form of a bill and constitutional draft,’’ he said. Okutepa said that a draft copy of the recommendations could also be sent to the National Assembly, which would pass a law adopting it as part of the constitution. He said that another option was to jettison the outcome of the conference and ``allow it to go into the dustbin of history like every other constitutional conference held before now.” Sharing similar sentiments, Mr Odion Odia, a human rights lawyer, argued that there was no need to subject the outcome of the conference to a referendum. He said that since the conference was not able to reach consensus on derivation and resource control, which other recommendations hinged on, going for a referendum would be needless. He suggested that the recommendations should be forwarded to the National Assembly and made part of ongoing efforts to amend the constitution. ``There is no need to subject the outcome of the conference to referendum. At best, they should be sent to the National Assembly, which could make it part of the constitution’s amendment currently going on, “he said. Odia expressed disappointment at the manner in which the conference ended its plenary session, adding that it was needless referring the issues of derivation and resource control to the Federal Government. ``The conference did not end well because it failed on the most important issue, and that is derivation and resource control. ``Now that they have sent it back to the President, who constituted the conference. In my opinion, they have failed. ``I am not unaware that the confab reached about 600 resolutions but they are not as important as the ones they were not able to resolve,” he added. Odia stressed that if the delegates failed to reach consensus on an important issue like derivation and resource control, particularly at a time when the country was facing security challenges, there was no need for a referendum. Nevertheless, Mr Rafiu Salau, the National Secretary Alliance for Democracy (AD) urged the National Assembly to amend the constitution to make provision for a referendum to deliberate on the recommendations of the conference. ``Our legislators should ensure that referendum is part of the constitution to enable the people they represent to make input into national issues. ``In a democracy, the people are the masters and referendum is one of the ways to really prove that notion,” he said. Salau explained that subjecting the recommendations to a referendum would ensure that the Federal Government efforts in organising the conference would not be in vain. Prof Abdulhameed Ujo of the Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Abuja, rejected calls for a referendum to approve or reject the recommendations, insisting that there was no provision for referendum in the constitution. ``If the recommendations are to be subjected to a referendum, it means the issue of referendum must be passed into law by the National Assembly,’’ he said. Prof Saleh Dauda of the same department, who concurred with the views expressed by Ujo, said that part of the recommendations, which dealt with policy issues, should be forwarded to the president for implementation, while those that dealt with constitutional issues should be sent to the National Assembly. He said that it would be impossible to subject the recommendations to a referendum because there is no provision for it in the constitution. Sen. Emmanuel Bwacha (PDP-Taraba) said that the recommendations should form part of the themes that would be considered in ongoing efforts to amend the constitution, adding that the National Assembly was the only body that had the powers to amend the constitution. ``For me, whether referendum or no referendum, it will still be a matter for amendment in the constitution. So at the end of the day, it will still end up with the parliament and this is the fact." Sen. Gilbert Nnaji (PDP-Enugu), who shared sentiments, said that the recommendations should be forwarded to the National Assembly for consideration. (NAN) [eap_ad_4]

No Result