• As conference winds up July 17
• Northerners plan protest, walk out
• We’re ready for them, say Southerners
Confab delegates
Fights, verbal and physical, may break out in the national conference between delegates split in two camps – the core North and South/Middle Belt – in the final days of the talk shop, beginning this week.
A dry run was displayed on Thursday, July 3 when core Northern delegates sensed they were outwitted in economic matters by Southern delegates aided by Northern minorities.
Discontent arose over the report of the Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government, which recommendations covered state creation and local government structure, TheNiche investigation has shown.
Agitation for North, South balance
Southern delegates and their allies from the Middle Belt and other Northern minority ethnic groups backed the creation of 18 new states as well as the removal of local government matters from the Constitution, to be handled by states.
Their counterparts from the core North put up a stiff resistance but lost the battle.
Southern delegates argued that these two issues are part of what gives the North advantage over the rest of the country. They cited the example of the local government system used by military rulers in the past to confer superiority on the North.
One of them pointed out that Kano and Jigawa States have more councils than all the five South East states put together. The North has held the country down with the constitutional provision that states cannot create councils, he added.
Power tussle over councils led the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to withold council allocation to Lagos State from the Federation Account on the excuse that the state created additional councils.
It took a ruling by the Supreme Court for Lagos to get the allocation back.
Despite that experience Northern delegates did not take kindly to the conclusion of the confab that states should decide the number of councils they want.
North alleges bias
For several minutes while the report was being considered, their arrowhead, Senator Saidu Dan Sadau, kept interrupting with appeals for point of order or point of information.
Each time he was allowed to speak, he argued that decision on the matter be deferred. He never had his way.
But it did not end there. Immediately the conference adjourned at 3pm, the Northern Delegates Forum (NDF) held a meeting to reflect on what happened at plenary and decide how to reverse the trend before the conference ends on July 17.
They resolved to send a delegation to conference Chairman, Idris Kutigi, to demand that the decision be reversed.
Northern delegates constantly accuse the conference leadership of bias against the region. Day after day, they mount criticism against Deputy Chairman, Bolaji Akinyemi, alleging that he shuts them out during debate on crucial issues.
A statement they issued after their meeting on July 3 again accused the conference leadership of hatching a plot to adopt all recommendations of a group allegedly led by Raymond Dokpesi, a Southern delegate.
The statement said: “We note that decisions have been arrived at in total disregard of the Procedure Rule, 2014 in respect of such issues as removal of the list of local governments from the constitution, local government financing, adoption of state constitution, a motion to adopt reference and state constitution.
“[Kutigi] refused flatly to recognise several members who had indicated intention to raise points of order in respect of the method of arriving at decisions by voice vote.
“This is contrary to Order X1 which provides as follows: All decisions of the conference plenary and committee stage shall be reached by consensus or in the absence of that, the chairman shall, at his discretion, adjourn proceedings to allow for further consultations, in the event of failure to reach a solution, it shall be decided by vote of three quarter majority.”
The North accused the conference secretariat of being “very selective in picking and choosing what amendments filed by members to table and which ones to ignore.”
The allegation that a document in circulation at the conference was linked to Dokpesi was made on Monday, July 1 by one of the Northern leaders, Auwalu Yadudu, who allegedly leaked it to a newspaper based in Abuja.
Document produced by consensus team
It was learnt that the document emanated from a group called National Consensus Bridge Building Team (NCBBT), which comprises delegates from different parts of the country, including Yadudu.
NCBBT was formed to mobilise conference members to reach consensus on divisive issues. It had reached agreement on several matters until state police came up.
Most of Southern delegates endorsed the creation of state police, some from the North opposed it. The division was carried to the NCBBT. The likes of Yadudu pulled out of the group and labeled it sectional.
Dokpesi told journalists that Yadudu had been a member of the NCBBT until his disagreement over certain resolutions.
“It is no longer a hidden fact that Yadudu is a member of this group. He was there from the beginning. He attended most our meetings where decisions on how to make the conference to succeed were taken.
“He only disagreed with the rest of the members over the issue of state police.”
Influence of Southern delegates, Northern minorities
Another source said the NCBBT comprises mainly delegates from the South and those from minority ethnic nationalities in three zones in the North.
The ethnic nationalities, said to be those marginalised by the Northern oligarchy, used the NCBBT to break free of the shackles of internal colonialism.
The agitation includes the creation of states, removal of the Land Use Act from the Constitution (championed by Southern delegates), power rotation and devolution of power, fiscal federalism.
The NCBBT proposed the creation of 18 new states based on the equality of zones. The states recommended are.
North Central – Edu (from Niger State) and Apa (Benue).
North East – Katagun (Bauchi), Savanah (Borno) and Amana (Adamawa).
North West – Kainji (Kebbi), Gurara (Kaduna), Ghari (Kano).
South East – Etiti (Anambra, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi and Imo), Aba (Abia), Adada (Enugu), Njaba/Anim (Imo and Anambra).
South West – Ijebu (Ogun), New Oyo (Oyo) and a third one yet to be named.
South South – Anioma (Delta), Ogoja (Cross River) and a third one yet to be named.
The NCBBT also reportedly proposed 21.5 per cent derivation formula for oil producing states, removal of the Land Use Act from the Constitution and replacing the new national anthem with the old.
Physical confrontation expected this week
But the real fight is expected between Tuesday, July 8 and Wednesday, July 9 when the report of the committee on Devolution of Power will be debated at plenary.
There are feelers that Northern delegates will keep demanding a reversal of the decisions taken on July 4 and plan to stage a walk out to discredit the confab.
It was learnt that they are mobilising for a final showdown which may include physical combat with their Southern colleagues.
Southern delegates are said to be preparing for any eventuality. One disclosed that younger members have warned their older counterparts not to attend plenary in agbada (flowing gown).
“We also detailed our activists to close mark the bellicose ones among Northern delegates to prevent them from disrupting proceedings. This has worked effectively well for us.
“As for what to expect this week, I can only say we are ready for any eventuality,” the source said.
