Northern delegates to the National Conference Tuesday released what they termed the stand of the North in the ongoing dialogue, stating that unless the 1999 Constitution is amended to take away the ownership of mineral resources from the federal government, total resource control by any Nigerian state would amount to a breach of the covenants of the federation.
In this regard, they have recommended a reduction of the derivation formula, which, according to them, should be applied to oil produced solely onshore, from 13 per cent to five per cent, as well as the scrapping of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Ministry of Niger Delta and the Amnesty Programme for ex-Niger Delta militants.
The northern delegates said the agitation for resource control by a section of the country was akin to attempts to pull out of the Nigerian federation, explaining that all regions in the country are equal stakeholders and owners of the country’s mineral resources, including its hydrocarbon resources.
In a paper circulated to members of the conference and the media titled, “Key Issues Before the Northern Delegates to the National Conference; Northern Nigeria the Back Bone and Strength of Nigeria”, the delegates called for the rejection of the onshore/offshore oil dichotomy, which they said gives away a national resource to only littoral states and called for reversal of the regime.
The northern representatives held the position that the North has 786,754 square kilometres of landmass to the South’s 197,022 square kilometres and a population of 75,025,166 to the south’s 64,973,802, and a registered voting population of 42,160,236, relative to the south’s 31,347,802.
They further argued that the north has 19 states to the south’s 17; has 419 local government areas to the south’s 355, has 196 federal constituencies to the south’s 164, and boasts 58 senatorial districts to the south’s 51 senatorial districts.
On the onshore/offshore dichotomy, the delegates added: “The North recommends the rejection of claims to oil resources by oil-producing areas that led to the cancellation of the onshore/offshore oil dichotomy law, which action gave way a national resource to littoral states, seriously eroding revenue available for distribution to all parts of the country. The north demands a reversal to status quo ante.
The document further said: “The oil derivation which is now at 13 per cent should be reduced to at least five per cent and must be limited only to on onshore oil.
“The history of revenue sharing between the regions and the centre was 50:50, but limited to revenue derived from activities that involved human efforts. All mineral resources had belonged to the centre, and this new adventure on resource control is a totally new concept, and alien to the practice in the Nigerian nation.”
They also demanded a new revenue sharing formula which seeks to empower the strata of government closer to the people, that is, for the states and the local governments to be able to deliver on their responsibilities to the people.
They recommended a vertical revenue sharing formula as follows: federal government – 26 per cent, states 39 per cent and local governments – 35 per cent.
In addition, they recommend a horizontal revenue sharing formula for the states and local government areas as follows: Equality – 35 per cent; population – 30 per cent; population density – 2 per cent; landmass – 20 per cent; terrain – 5 per cent; internal revenue generation effort – 5 per cent; and social development factor – 3 per cent.
Also, tension boiled over again at the conference’s Committee on Power Devolution yesterday as Yoruba delegates threatened to stage a walkout and not to sign the outcome of the conference over disagreements on what items should be respectively assigned to the exclusive and concurrent lists of the constitution.
But their threats fell flat when other delegates encouraged them to walk out as no one had forced them to attend the conference in the first place.
Also, a former Military Administrator of North West State, Alhaji Usman Farouk, challenged his colleagues from the South over discussions on the sovereignty of Nigeria and the powers of the executive stating, “Sovereignty is not earned or discussed on a round table, but obtained in a battle field.”
He added that the conference was not empowered to discuss the sovereignty of Nigeria or the powers of the executive.
A delegate from Oyo State, Adeniyi Akintola, voiced the frustration of the South-west at the devolution committee when his attempt to draw the attention of the conference that electoral powers should not be on the exclusive list of the constitution was rejected.
“No Yoruba man will append his signature to anything done here. I can tell you that. I think the best option is to walk out,” he said.
Co-chairman of the Committee on Devolution, Victor Attah, cautioned Akintola, saying, “I want to remind all delegates that the volume of work we have done is much and we still gave a lot of work to do. If Akintola thinks we have achieved nothing, I think it is unfortunate.”
Meanwhile, at a meeting with the leadership of the National Conference over the weekend, THISDAY gathered that President Goodluck Jonathan charged the delegates to ensure that all decisions of the conference are reached through a consensus.
According to a source who spoke to THISDAY, “When the leadership of the conference met the president to give a progress report on the conference, he mandated that all major decisions to be reached at the conference must be consensus based.”
The source, who was privy to the meeting, said the president held the view that it is only through a consensus that Nigerians would take the outcome of the conference seriously and motivate calls for a referendum.
