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  • Southwest governors demand restructuring, state police, resource control in constitution review

    Southwest governors demand restructuring, state police, resource control in constitution review

    Governors Lucky Aiyedatiwa (Ondo), Abiodun Oyebanji (Ekiti), and Ademola Adeleke (Osun) have jointly called for the restructuring of Nigeria, true federalism, the creation of state police, and resource control as part of the ongoing constitutional review process.

    The governors made their demands during the South-West Centre B Public Hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review, held on Friday at the International Centre for Culture and Events (The Dome) in Akure, Ondo State.

    They also advocated a new revenue-sharing formula, as well as the constitutional recognition of Local Council Development Authorities (LCDAs) to enhance grassroots governance.

    In his remarks, Governor Aiyedatiwa praised President Bola Tinubu for supporting democratic reforms and commended the House Committee, led by Deputy Speaker Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, for bringing the constitution amendment process closer to the people.

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    Highlighting the challenges of insecurity, Aiyedatiwa argued that Nigeria’s centralized policing system is no longer effective, stressing the need for state police to enhance security and community intelligence.

    He referenced the operational success of the South-West security outfit, Amotekun, as evidence that localized policing can work in Nigeria, especially in intelligence gathering and crime deterrence.

    The governor called for a review of the revenue allocation formula, suggesting that states should receive not less than 50% of revenue from the federation.

    “Ondo State aligns with the progressive aspirations of the South-West Geo-political Zone in advocating for true federalism that reflects socio-political, cultural and economic realities of the federating units.  

    “This would be in tandem with true fiscal federalism where states have full control over their resources and revenues while remitting about 40% of their revenues to the Federal Government. 

    “Still on fiscal federalism, it will serve the cause of fairness and justice to have a review of the current revenue allocation formula which is skewed in favour of the federal government. Ondo State is of the opinion that not less than 50% of revenue from the federation should be allocated to the states,” Aiyedatiwa said. 

    He proposed that Section 44 (3) of the constitution be amended to remove control over minerals, mineral oils, and natural gas from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List.

    This, according to the Ondo governor, would enable state governments to harness their mineral wealth for local development.

    “It is an understatement that state governments and the people experience a lot of agonies from the activities of miners, including illegal miners, quarries, and others that engage in mineral exploration activities. This is because state governments have little or no control over this sector.

    “It hinders State Governments, especially oil-rich States from harnessing their mineral wealth for local development, while illegal mining continues to flourish due to weak Federal Government oversight and poor local enforcement mechanisms.”

    Aiyedatiwa further said the state is not opposed to the creation of new states as requested in some of the proposed bills, but strongly oppose excising any part of its territory to merge with any new state or join an existing one.

    He appealed to the committee on the constitution review to recommend the inclusion of the Local Council Development Authorities (LCDAs) in the proposed constitution.

    “It is also of interest to the government and people of Ondo state that additional local governments be created in the state, just as Lagos State Local Development Council Areas (LCDAs) are being proposed for inclusion in the Constitution as fully-fledged Local Government Areas. 

    “In Ondo state, we have functional thirty-three (33) LCDAs duly created by the State Government. We strongly advocate that the proposed bill be expanded and these 33 LCDAs in Ondo State be recognised as fully-fledged local governments in the First Schedule of the Constitution,” he noted.

    Governor Oyebanji also proposed that Section 44 (3) of the Constitution be amended to remove control over minerals, mineral oils, and natural gas from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List.

    The Ekiti governor, represented by the Attorney General of the state, Dayo Apata (SAN), however, called for equal political representation for women and persons with disabilities, formal recognition of traditional rulers, and restrictions on the indiscriminate movement of herders and livestock across the country.

    His Osun State counterpart, Governor Adeleke, highlighted the need for electoral reform, particularly the need to reduce the cost of conducting elections in Nigeria and advocates for electronic voting.

    Governor Adeleke, represented by his deputy, Kolawole Adeusi, who presented the position paper, called for the reduction of the high cost of governance and political campaigns, warning that unregulated campaign expenses could lead to desperation and electoral malpractice.

    “The cost of governance is too high. Make it less attractive so that it doesn’t become a matter of life and death,” he said. 

    The Olowo of Owo and Chairman, Ondo State Council of Obas, Oba Gbadegesin Ogunoye III, who represented the traditional institutions, advocated for the constitutional recognition of monarchs and their inclusion in policymaking processes, noting that they remain the closest authorities to the grassroots.

    Earlier, Hon.James Faleke Chairman of Southwest Centre B (Ondo, Osun, Ekiti) of the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review said the next step will be in alignment with the wishes of the people of Nigeria. 

    He stressed that all the position papers will be meticulously scrutinize for the ultimate betterment of the country.

    Also, representatives of labour unions, professional bodies, religious groups, civil society organisations, traditional institutions, and women groups from Ondo, Ekiti, and Osun States presented proposals aimed at correcting longstanding imbalances and deepening democratic practice.

  • Politics of resource control

    Politics of resource control

    The Committee on Restructuring set up by the All Progressives Congress (APC) has submitted its report. One of the landmark recommendations is that states should control resources in their domain. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the implication of the party’s proposal on the democratic process. 

    Resource control is a contentious issue that has not been addressed-over the years. The agitation for resource control by the oil producing states in the Niger-Delta is one of the major challenges confronting the country. The controversial issue resurfaced during the National Conference held  in 2014. The delegates from the oil-producing states demanded for between 25.5 to 50 per cent derivation funding which was not approved by the conference delegates. The report on Derivation and Resource Control was stepped down because the controversy could not be resolved. Instead the conference advised President Goodluck Jonathan to set up a technical committee to handle the matter.

    But the All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken the bull by the horns. The party has accepted its committee’s report on restructuring that states should be allowed to control resources within their jurisdiction. The Committee had recommended that oil and other mineral resources should be left to the control of the states where they are located while offshore resources should be owned by the Federal Government.

    The panel in its report stated that there was wide spread support and consensus in favour of “State Control of Resources and pay tax to the Federal Government.” According to the panel, other recommended views with strong national support spread and consensus include: upward revision of derivation and making derivation applicable to solid minerals and hydro power generation.

    The oil-rich Niger-Delta region has been in the fore front for the return to status quo, to give the federating units the control of their economic activities and finances. Expert in political economy, Dr Frank Ezimora noted that the contentious issue had been settled by the 1960 Independence and 1963 Constitutions. He recalled that it was the law of Nigeria before and after independence that the federating units, the regions controlled their economic and finances, keeping 50 per cent of all revenues to the Federation Account, out of which 30 per cent was shared among the regions, leaving 20 per cent to the Federal Government.

    He said the law was changed in 1969 by the General Yakubu Gowon military administration when the crude oil from the Niger-Delta became the mainstay of the economy in order to get more funds to prosecute the civil war. The change was done without consultation with or mandate from the people, he said.

    According to him, the Niger-Delta people are simply asking for a return to the post-independence practice after more than five decades. “The resource control adopted in the First Republic was responsible for accelerated development recorded by the three regions. The West produced Cocoa; the North groundnut and cotton and the East rubber and palm oil. Each region provided incentives to farmers to boost the production of cash crops in their domain. The regional governments set up Marketing Boards that buy from farmers and export them for  foreign exchange. What they did was to keep 50 per cent of the earnings from export and the remaining 50 per cent to the Federal Government to be shared among regions and the central governments. With this regional governments had sufficient funds to develop their regions. They didn’t rely on federal allocation to pay salaries and execute projects.

    “For instance, resource control was responsible for the unprecedented development recorded by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the old Western Region. He used the revenue accrued from cocoa to fund free primary education in the region in 1955. It was first of its kind in the country. That programme enabled children of indigent parents to acquire western education, which had placed the region ahead of others in the country till today. Besides, the first television station, Cocoa House, University of Ife now Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) and the first stadium were built when he was was Premier of Western Region”.

    Analysts believe a return to resource control is the much needed panacea to Nigeria’s present state of arrested development that would at the same time offer relief to the impoverished and degraded peoples of the oil producing communities. It was in line with this thought that the APC committee in its report states inter alia: “To promote the unity of the country and ensure that states are more financially empowered to deliver services to their residents, as well as ensure no one feels disadvantaged, the committee recommends that the federal government should expeditiously review current derivation formula to reflect  areas of national consensus which are adoption of state control of resources and pay tax to Federal Government; upward review of the current formula in favour of states and adoption of similar derivation formula in favour of solid minerals and power generation. The committee, in response to popular opinion, recommended an upward review of the current derivation formula and the adoption of the said formula in favour of solid minerals and hydro power.”

    Civil rights activist Comrade Mashood Erubami has commended the APC for coming up with far reaching recommendations on issues that border on national question. He said the party’s recommendations had answered the centrality of the issues agitating the minds of the people of Nigeria in terms of how many states will bring harmony to the country, what percentage of federal collectable resources should be given back to their sources and also recommended some items on the exclusive legislative list that should be transferred to the recurrent list to enable states have direct responsibility.

    Erubami noted that before the reports of the panel came out, nobody gave it to the APC that it could come out with anything meaningful suspecting that its northern leadership will be against the practice of true federalism especially as it relates to principle of derivation, devolution of power, federating units and state creation.

    He said: “This has not only confirmed that APC is a listening party but a passionate political movement that believes in true federalism and unity of the country through constitutional and deliberative democracy imbued with equitable sense of justice and fair play as evident in the aims and objectives in Article 7 of the party’s Constitution  which commits the party “to firstly, promote and foster the unity, political stability and national consciousness of the people of Nigeria and secondly, to promote true federalism in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

    The activist said one notable recommendations made by the APC panel is resource control which has been the most contentious that has not been resolved over the years. In his view, resource control is about whether the states, regions or zones should be allowed to exclusively or partially own, exploit, and tap the resources in their domain and just pay taxes to the Federal Government. This is where the change mantra of the APC has visibly manifested as it came out to douse all agitations from both the West which has been in the forefront of just and equitable  control of resources, and the South-South , especially the South East which lately dumped their secession agitation to accept restructuring.

    “The fact that a recommendation on derivation principle could be proposed to be increased from 13 per cent as currently contained in the constitution to favour the states, notwithstanding its technicality and complexity, shows that the party is out to bring about a new Nigeria. With that what accrues to the Federal Government 56 per cent will reduce and the percentages accruing to states  24 per cent will increase to be able to pay pension arrears, regular monthly pensions, payment of monthly salaries to workers as at when due include being able to carry out development works for sustainable good living.

    “The acceptance by the APC to implement true Federalism in Nigeria as against the open lies provided in the 1999 Constitution which is undoubtedly unitary but which they fraudulently referred to as formulated by the people of Nigeria when it is clear that it was mid-wife by the military and pretentiously called a Federal Constitution. The lid had been removed from the eyes of Nigerians and nobody or party can come in future to start to campaign for what they could not do when they are in power or deny APC of the victory of its courageous demonstration of the strong political will to bring Nigeria to its destined land through re-setting her old structure  through a new order that underscore the need for fiscal federalism, revenue allocation, form of government, independent candidacy, land tenure system, local government autonomy, power sharing and rotation and resource control.”

    A lecturer in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Uyo, Dr Samuel Asua, observed that the central control of oil resources and the utilisation of the revenue derived there from to fast- track the development of the nation tends to favour the major ethnic groups rather than the minority from which the oil is exploited. He said the conflicts over the distribution of state resources and its control within communal territories exacerbated the difficulties of political accommodation in Nigeria’s federation.

    Asua argues that agitation for resource control in Nigeria is, due largely, to lopsidedness in the practice of true federalism. “The main problem of Nigeria is application of federalism. True federalism is a situation whereby the centre and the sub-units are economically autonomous and administratively responsible for most of their activities i.e. a situation whereby there is devolution of constitutional responsibilities of power between the centre and region/sub units. In other words, the state, regions and centre share sovereignty. An ideal federal system should have independent revenue control mechanism or rather opportunity for the state/region to control/manage the resources from their areas. In practice, Nigeria’s federalism is a mere gimmick as it ends at the pronouncement of the word federation.

    “Unfortunately, states or regions have no control of the resources. In fact the Land Use Decree of 1976 allocates the land and its resources to the federal government in addition, all mineral resources that are six feet deep or beyond belongs to the federal government. These laws were made so as to strip the Nigerian people off of asking for their inalienable rights to the resource from their areas. The central government controls every major activities of the nation, thereby making Nigerian Federation a federalism only by name as the branches (states) have little or no power or influence in major economic/social issues such as mineral resources, revenue allocation/ distribution and off course the armed forces.

    “In a true federalism, the component states constitutionally control the resources, which are found within their geographical spread, and pay a certain percentage of revenue derived from such resources to the federal government. Practically, therefore, resource control rests on the component states of the federation. But in Nigeria, the reverse is the case, where the Federal Government controls the resources. Thus, the violent conflict experienced in some parts of the country, particularly the Niger Delta is as a result of the structure of the Nigerian federal state and the nature of the control of natural resources.”

    The university don noted that though the politics of resource control in Nigeria has been a ding-dong affair for a very long time, the issue got exacerbated by the discovery, exploration, sale and management of oil revenue. According to him, the politics of oil revenue has really made Nigeria a polarised state. “In fact with the discovery of oil, Nigeria drifted from being an agro-based nation to oil based nation. Most of the goods, being exported like groundnut and cotton from the north, palm produce from the east, while cocoa and rubber from the west were de-emphasised and in fact they were almost stopped. Hides and skins which used to be the pride of the north were no longer remembered. The government attention was over focused on oil because it became the bench mark for the federal government budget.”

    However, Erubami observed that the recommendation on resource control was not obviously decisive and total. He said it could only be acceptable to agitators in the states and the geo-political zones depending on where they found themselves in the resource control narratives. According to him, it rendered the Southwest years of agitation for the convocation of Sovereign National Conference futile and meaningless, in the context of National Movement for fairness and just relation within a federal state.

    For those who want unconstrained resource control, the activist said it was not a happy outing because of the recommendation that ‘it will still be expedient that ownership and control of resources in the continental shelf and territorial waters should remain with the Federal Government.  But Erubami believes that the elaborate amendments offered as excuse against total control will not make it unworkable as amendment of the constitution cannot be a strong obstacle to complete resource control.

    Notwithstanding, he said, “agreeing for the first time that the states should exercise control over natural resources on the lands within their domain, is an acceptable innovation, more so when the Land Use Act vest powers over land in the states territories leaving the states to pay taxes or royalties there from the Federal Government.”

    To a youth activist, Malam Musa Abdullahi, the APC has proved its detractors wrong particularly the opposition groups who thought the ruling party was against restructuring. The APC panel was able to come up with recommendation on resource control which the National Conference set up by the Goodluck Jonathan could not tackle. For good four months, the motley assembly could not agree on the issue of resource control.

    While commending the APC for taking decisive position on national issues threatening the peace of the country, Abdullahi advised the party to follow up the recommendations by sending a bill to the National Assembly for necessary amendments in the Constitution so that the recommendations would be incorporated into the constitution.

    Asua suggested that the principle of federalism should be fully applied. “Federalism as being practiced in developed countries such as the United States will enhance unified, peaceful, political and socio-economic development. It will encourage the states to look inward and develop economic independence. The issue of resource control and dependence on revenue allocation from the federation account and other federal sources of revenue, such as revenues from excess crude oil, income from excise duties etc would be de-emphasised. Rather, the whole system should be constituted in such a way that high taxes be paid to the federal government n revenue generated from such mineral resources that yield high income, provided such resources are left for the people to control their resources by themselves.”

     

  • Afenifere insists on restructuring, resource control

    Afenifere insists on restructuring, resource control

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    Yoruba socio-cultural organisation Afenifere at the weekend insisted the only solution to the leadership crisis facing the nation is true federalism.

    It said Nigeria will only thrive when all the federating units develop at their own pace through dint of hard work. Afenifere also called for urgent review of the constitution and removal of mines and other mineral resources from the exclusive list.

    Afenifere’s General Secretary, Yinka Odumakin, stated these while speaking at the 4th international retreat of the Zionists International Club in Ibadan.Odumakin, who was the guest speaker at the three -day retreat, described the state of the nation as precarious, calling for urgent measures to avert imminent collapse. He said it is important for every state to mine and produce their resources for overall development.

    Speaking on the theme “Integrity in leadership and the challenge of national development”, Odumakin said: “We must allow proper federal structure where we allow the regions to develop at their own pace and encourage competition to foster development and progress. “And we must get back to work. Productivity is the key. We cannot be sharing money at the end of every month. We must get back to work and we cannot get back to work until we change the constitution.

    “We must remove mines and other mineral resources from exclusive list to residual list so that every section in Nigeria can mine and produce their resources. If we don’t do that we are not going anywhere.” He criticised the church for not exerting its position on the love of mundane things, lamenting it has refused to shine its lightness in the face of thick darkness.

  • No state can control its resources 100 per cent, says El Rufai

    No state can control its resources 100 per cent, says El Rufai

    Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Committee on True Federalism, Governor Nasir El-Rufai, said Wednesday that demanding equal states for all the geopolitical zones  is  injustice to others because it will amount to trying to make “the unequal equal”

    The governor also said that it will be difficult for states agitating for resource control to achieve 100 per cent control of resources in their states.

    To him, because states without oil are more, those with oil might not get the required vote in the National Assembly for their wish.

    The governor who spoke at an interactive session with Nigerian Youths in Abuja also said he was prepared to open the books for those willing to audit his security votes.

    According to him, his security vote is being controlled by the Secretary to the State Government.

    The governor who was responding to questions and suggestions raised by some of the youths said rather that make suggestions that will not stand the test of time, the youths should find a way of engaging the process after learning from history.

    He said: There is absolutely no way in the Nigeria of today that a state that has oil will have 100 per cent of the revenue. That is not possible because to get that document through, you have to pass it through the National Assembly and in the National Assembly, there are more states that have no oil than those that have oil and so, they will vote it down.

    “So, you better start proposing something that works for the entire country and not just you. Otherwise, it will not help. The greatest injustice you can do is to try to make the unequal equal or the equal unequal.

    “You cannot come here and say we should create nine states in each zone. Nigeria is not equal in terms of land mass, population, resources etc. so, you can’t do that. It is injustice trying to make the unequal equal because there is nowhere in the world.”

    He said those agitating for the scrapping of the Senate should realize that no member of the senate will vote to scrap the chamber, saying “Whatever you learn with some knowledge of history is incomplete. Unfortunately, in this country, history is not a subject in our schools. We started with a parliamentary system of government with the Queen as our leader, then, we became a Republic in 1963. You should not trace history without learning from the mistakes of the past or make recommendations without some sense of history.

    “When you make “recommendation that you want to abolish the senate, you should know that the senate cannot be abolished unless the Senate votes to abolish the senate. Who is going to vote to make himself unemployed?

    “We have a political process and so, we are not over throwing the government and starting afresh. So, we have to work with what we have in a sensible and pragmatic manner and reform what need to be reformed.

    “When you say create states on the one hand and on the other hand you say cost of governance is too high, you are contradicting yourself. For every state you create, you are adding to the budget of the country. So, you cannot be saying that the cost of governance is too high and yet ask for more states.

    “We must think for once what will be of interest to the country. We must think of what will be of interest to Nigeria because what will work in one part of the country may not work in another. If we don’t think first of what is of interest to all of us before the individuals, we will only have series of conflicting argument without consensus.

    Speaking on security vote and its legality, the governor said there were a lot of misconception about security votes, saying security votes was not unconstitutional.

    He said “Go and read your constitution. The state House of Assembly has the power to appropriate anything and security vote is a line charge in the budget and so. It is not illegal. But it is how it is used is the issue.

    “I know of a former governor who used to collect N1.5 billion in cash as security votes and come to Abuja. It has been subject of abuse and that is not how it should be. The idea of security vote is for the governor to have discretionary funds to deal with emergency situations because you don’t know when you will have security challenges and you need money to be able to respond to these challenges.

    “Sometimes, you need money to pay for information and sometimes, you can’t imagine the type of people you pay as informant because armed robbers patronize a lot of places and you need to know what they are planning next. Another use of security vote is to support security agents in the states.”

  • Resource control disagreement tears Conference apart

    Resource control disagreement tears Conference apart

    Northern delegates to the National Conference yesterday remained unyielding in their opposition to the 18 per cent derivation principle proposed by the conference committee on Devolution of Power.

    Today’s concluding session of the conference has be tagged “a make or break session.”

    A source close to the leadership of the conference told our correspondent in Abuja that the refusal of the leader of northern delegates, former Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Coomasie and others to sign some proposed amendments to the key recommendations of the Devolution of Power committee is a source of worry to the conference leadership.

    Apart from Coomasie, others who did not endorse the proposed amendment are Alhaji Mohammed Umara Kumalia, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, Prof. Jerry Gana, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu and Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama.

    The proposed amendment  is entitled “Amend recommendation (a) on page 39 of the report of the committee on Devolution of Power by substituting with the following.”

    The new document was endorsed by Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, Adamu Maina Waziri, Senator Ibrahim Ida, Chief Olu Falae, Gen. Alani Akinrinade, Gen Ike Nwachukwu, Prof. Anya O. Anya and 18 others.

    The proposed amendment states: “1(a) Provided that the principle of derivation shall be constantly reflected in any approved formula as being not less than 18 per cent of the revenue accruing to the federation account directly from any natural resources.

    “1(b) That not less than 50 per cent of the total derivation fund accruable to a mineral bearing state shall be due and payable to the host communities within the state where the resources are derived in accordance with the production quota contributed to such community.

    “2, There shall be established a mineral’s development fund which shall not be less than 5 per cent of the revenue accruing to the federation accounts. The funds shall be applied to minerals development in the state. This is borne out of the need to urgently and practically expand the economic base of the country, increase the gross domestic product, generate employment and promote the general development of the country.

    “3, There shall be a national intervention fund which shall be 5 per cent of the annual revenue accruing to the account of the federal government for the stabilisation, rehabilitation and reconstruction of infrastructure in areas affected by terrorism and insurgency, especially in the Northeast zone of Nigeria and any other state in Nigeria that may be affected by terrorism and insurgency.”

    The source noted that “all entreaties to convince Coomasie and a few others to endorse these amendments have failed.”

    He added that “tomorrow’s (today’s) session will be the make or mar session of this conference.”

    Information emerged yesterday that some southern delegates met on Saturday in Abuja to articulate how they would vote as block on some sensitive recommendations of the Devolution of Power committee.

    A source who attended the meeting assured that “we are united and resolved that it is 18 per cent derivation principle or nothing.”

    He added: “We have the believe that some northern delegates planned to break up the conference on the pretext of opposition to resource control.”

  • Resource control: Niger Delta youths threaten to cripple economy

    Niger Delta youths on Thursday vowed to return to the trenches and bring Nigerian economy to its knees if the ongoing national conference failed to uphold resource control and true federalism.

    The youths under the aegis of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, rejected the decision of the National Conference Sub-Committee on Devolution and Resource Control to maintain the current 13 per cent derivation for oil-producing states.

    IYC in a statement signed by its Spokesman, Mr. Eric Omare, described the decision as retrogressive, anti-federalism and totally unacceptable to Niger Delta people.

    Omare said: “The IYC wish to warn that the decision of the Niger Delta people to give peace a chance to allow the federal government address the problems of the Niger Delta should not be taken as weakness.

    “The Niger Delta people are still willing, ready and capable of bringing the Nigeria economy to its knees.”

    He said the refusal of the committee to address the issue of resource control had betrayed the expectations of Niger Delta region and Nigerians.

    He said the committee has made nonsense of the conference as an avenue to “right the wrongs of the past, deepen our federal system of government and put Nigeria on the path for development.”

    Omare further said the decision was simply a triumph of the retrogressive and provocative agenda of reactionary forces in Northern Nigeria.

    “The opposition of reactionary northern delegates to resource control and demand for scrapping of the NDDC, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and the Amnesty programme are provocative to the Niger Delta people and we may be forced to take drastic actions.

    “These are interventionist agencies created for specific purposes which are not only beneficial to the Niger Delta Region but the entire country as demonstrated in the astronomical increase in the nation’s revenue as a result of the Amnesty programme,” he said.

     

  • Resource control: South South leaders, youths fume over North’s position

    Resource control: South South leaders, youths fume over North’s position

    The Southsouth is angry with the North over the  position of Northern delegates to the National Conference calling for the review of  sharing of oil proceeds.

    The North wants all the states of the federation to share proceeds from off-shore oil and a reduction in the current 13 per cent derivation for the oil bearing states.

    Mr Amorighoye  Mene, a Niger Delta leader and member of the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought; Samson Mamamu, the Regent of Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Kingdom, and outspoken activist Chief Ayirimi Emami described the paper as insulting and threat to the peace and unity of the country.

    Mene, a lawyer, said: “The position of ACF and northern governor is threat to the peace, unity and peaceful coexistence of Nigeria. That is why we are calling for restructuring of Nigeria because until we do, we cannot move forward.”

    He opined that the current structure of the country encourages some regions to be lazy and unproductive to the detriment of the growth and development of the country.

    He said:“Some people cannot at one end of the country refuse to be productive, just lay back and enjoy oil resources without contributing anything and at the end of the day turn around to call us (Niger Deltans) fools.”

    Mene also debunked claims by the ACF that the resources of the North were used to explore oil in the region, explaining that foreign investors and oil multinationals who started oil exploration did so with their funds.

    “They should realise that they are talking to very educated people in the Niger Delta, who followed the developments of this country, who actively participated in the negotiation of Nigeria independence.

    “This kind of assertion provokes the Niger Deltans because their position tends to look at us as uninformed, uneducated.

    “When the ACF claimed that they are the owners of oil or that it is owned by Nigerian without looking at the devastating effect of its exploitation, they seem to call us fools and this is what is really annoying us, as a people who are feeling the impact of the oil exploration while people who have failed to exploit their own resources fail to realise the problem we are passing through and then begin to claim that the resources belong to them. It is provocative to the extreme,” he added.

    Speaking in the same vein, Mamamu, a former Chairman of the Western Zone of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) said the call for reduction in the sharing formula “is unacceptable by both the dead and living.

    “The minimum demand of the Niger Delta people is 50percent or a slight difference.”

    He cautioned northern leaders and other Nigerians against debating the issue of resource control with greed and the tendency to oppress and cheat their Niger Delta people.

    In his reaction, Chief Ayirimi Emami, who is the Chairman of the Itsekiri Regional Development Committee, said there is a conspiracy by northern elites to subject the Niger Delta region to perpetual underdevelopment in spite of their resources.

    “The conspiracy to deprive the Niger Delta benefit of their God-given resources has been on for decades. Anybody who tried to fight the injustice is brought down. Look at what happened to Chief James Ibori; his travails today are a result of his opposition to the rape of the Niger Delta.

    “People must realise that ultimately they cannot stop us from enjoying the benefits of our resources. At the end of the day, truth and justice will prevail.”

    He urged the people of the Niger Delta and other parts of the country to rise up in unison to insist on true fiscal federalism and resource control.

    The IYC, speaking through its spokesperson, Mr Eric Omare  said the Northern position is highly provocative, insulting, inciting, unpatriotic and deliberately prepared to instigate Niger-Deltans to take up arms against the Federal Government.

  • Why North rejected resource control – Arewa, confab delegates

    The pan northern socio-political organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the Northern delegates at the ongoing National Conference said the current renewed agitation for resource control will increase imbalance in the development of the country, leading to inequality.
    Reacting to the current debate, the ACF through its National Publicity Secretary, Mohammed Ibrahim, said it was against the abolition of the on/ off shore dichotomy, but was however opposed to the principle of derivation that will compensate for the environmental pollution suffered by oil producing communities.
    Ibrahim said “Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) disagrees with the abolition of the on/ off shore dichotomy, where proceeds from the off shore activities that are not due to efforts of the states or any host communities, nor cause any degradation of the environment, are factored into calculation for derivation with consequences to the economic well being of the non oil producing states.
    “ACF is however not opposed to principle of derivation that will compensate for the environmental degradation due to any exploration, or to reward efforts. ACF therefore calls for the review of the current situation to allow for the proceeds from off shore activities to be shared to all the states.”
    On their part, the Northern Delegates under the auspices of the Northern Delegates Forum said the argument that resource control has made non oil producing states not to be viable is neither here nor there, pointing out that apart from Lagos State, no state of the federation pays salaries without federal allocations.
    In a statement signed by their Spokesman, Anthony Sani and made available to The Nation in Kaduna, the northern delegates argued that the fact that the economy of Nigeria is not diversified today is not due to lack of resource control but due to cheap oil money which drives away productive money.

     

  • National Confab: Akwa Ibom calls for 100 per cent resource control

    Akwa Ibom State indigenes have canvassed for 100 per cent resource control in the ongoing national conference.

    At the Governor’s Office Annex on Barracks road at the weekend, where the event was held, Senator Etang Umoyo, who represented Eket District, said the principle of the resource control must include 100 per cent ownership; management; and distribution of all the resources from the territory, where the resources are discovered.

    Umoyo lamented that the Federal Government has committed constitutional fraud by not adopting appropriate formula for resource control.

    The former lawmaker condemned a system where all the resources of the land are owned and controlled entirely by the central government, thus employing discriminatory laws, policies, formulae and a rule of thumb in distributing them.

    His words: “It is a known case in the history of this country that derivation used to constitute a critical element in revenue allocation, until oil was discovered. When oil was discovered, the language started changing.

    “We demand 100 per cent ownership, management and distribution of these resources or revenue from all resources found in one’s territory, whether they are on land, above the land, or under water.

    This level of resource control is one of the defining features of true federalism such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, India, Mexico, among others.

    “In the United States, for instance, oil is owned by individuals; the owners of the land, where oil is found and these individuals pay appropriate taxes to the state, which in turn pay to the federal government after exploiting the oil.

    “The resources appropriated to different tiers of governments on an agreed formula consistent with established fiscal regime in operation.

    “A classical example is Indonesia, where oil revenue is shared 50 per cent to the local government producing it, 30 to the region and 20 to the federal government.”

    In his contribution, a former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Peter Umo, advocated for a new constitution.

    Umo explained that it is not worthwhile for the country to spend so much money parching up military constitution.

    He added that the people should be given opportunity to decide their destinies, even though they have managed to live together for over 100 years.