SAVE for some issues that require direct actions of the legislatures or the executives, the National Conference resolved that its recommendations should be subject to the approval of the people through a referendum instead of that of the National Assembly.
This is the position of a member of the conference, Chief John Dara from Kwara State, who represented the Middle-Belt states at the meeting.
Exchanging views with reporters at Ipee, his country home in Oyun Local Government Area of the state, Dara, also faulted the impression that the conference failed to take a decision on allocation of resources to the federating units.
According to him, the confab took a decision “that takes care of interest of all the units.”
Dara said that the confab considered the delay its recommendations may suffer at the National Assembly owing to the cumbersome process they would undergo there and resolved that they should be subject to a referendum while the legislative body only makes an official pronouncement on it.
He said their decision was hinged on the principles in Section 14 of the Constitution of the country that sovereignty belongs to the people and that each organ of the government derives its legitimacy from the people.
“The fact is that the sovereignty of people of Nigeria cannot be curtailed by law neither can it be undermined even by absence of law,” he said.
“It is given and therefore we intend to take the constitutional changes to the people of Nigeria through a referendum and in making their decision, the people are free to reject. Then, it will be their decision.
“They are also free to accept it. Then it will be their decision. And, once that is done, the recommendation becomes given; it becomes fait accompli. It is that fait accompli that you now take to the National Assembly to just make a formal pronouncement on. Then, the executive can run on it.”
The delegate explained that it is the aspect of the recommendation that requires constitutional changes that would go for a referendum, saying that, “the one that requires legislation would be taken to the National Assembly while the aspect that is about policy and administrative changes would be directed to the executive.”
Dara maintained that the conference took a decision that there should be increase on the percentage due to oil producing states, and allocations to solid minerals and other resources and for the victims of violent crises and/or natural disasters.
However, the conference, he said, resolved that decision on the percentage of the increase and new allocation should be left for a technical committee to be set up by the government.
Dara argued that with their decision, the people of the Niger Delta would not say they lose anything while the North would not feel being let down.
“It is not correct to say the conference was unable to decide; it is just that our decision is not how we had wanted it to be initially,” he said.
“But a decision is a decision and our decision is that there should be general increase in all the funding but the percentage — we left it to the discretion of government.
“But even at that, if the increase you get is 0.5 per cent, fine! It is an increase. If it is one per cent, fine! If it is 10 per cent, fine! That is what we have decided at.”
Dara said it was good they took that decision because there was another problem they saw in taking that decision.
“That is why we felt, look, let a technical committee look at this thing and fine-tune it so that we don’t make mockery of how we allocate fund,” he said.
“I don’t think anything is wrong with that. In fact, I think it is a better decision than what we wanted to take before and I do not believe that the Niger Delta left the conference feeling they lost anything; I don’t think the North, who wanted fund for victims of insurgency, felt that the conference has let them down.
“In fact, to show that they have not been let down, two days after, the President announced his own committee to raise fund to address problem of victims of insurgency in the Northeast and other parts of the North.
“Again, it shows that even before the conclusion of the conference, government was already implementing the recommendations it made. So, in my view, there was nothing that was left unaddressed.”
Dara, who doubles as a politician with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), identified Kwara as one of the states where the status quo would not remain in 2015.
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