Delegates to the national conference on Monday, in Abuja, were locked in a ferocious debate over whether the critical national issues at the conference should be based on the principle of consensus or not. For more than one hour, some delegates who addressed the conference during the debate on the draft Rules of Procedure were divided on whether the decision of the conference should be based on consensus or the two thirds majority. Signs that the matter would trigger a hot debate emerged when a delegate from Edo State, Mike Chief Ozekhome, was recognised by the conference chairman, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, to take his turn in contributing to the debate on the draft procedural rules. He specifically addressed page 11 of Order 6:7, which deals with the methodology to be adopted by the conference in deciding critical national issues after debate. Citing such issues like state police, of which he said he was a strong advocate, the lawyer said it was “homogenous and elephantine” to adopt consensus option to decide such matters. Undeterred by interjections by some delegates, who were obviously opposed to his position, Ozekhome advocated the two-thirds majority of the 492 members of the conference to arrive at decisions. He said it was the standard in practice throughout the world and that Nigeria could not be an exception, just as he buttressed his position with the dictates of the Nigerian Constitution. However, the decision of Justice Kutigi to draw the attention of the delegates to the claim that President Goodluck Jonathan had assured that all critical and fundamental issues would be decided by consensus could not stop a number of other delegates from expressing divergent views on the matter. An elder statesman and foremost nationalist, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, did not only advocate the two-thirds as the yardstick, but also said it remained the veritable means of settling most of the fundamental issues militating against the growth and development of the country. He said while the president should be commended for convening the conference, he would be engraving his name in gold by allowing the two-thirds majority to hold sway on very critical national issues. “Let’s go with the world.My suggestion is that we should have the two-thirds majority,” Chief Adebanjo emphasised. He urged the conference leadership to advise the president to have a rethink on his proposition for consensus so as not to play into the hands of those opposed to the conference. Another delegate, Chief Niyi Akintola, toed a similar line in his contribution that decisions at the conference should be based on two-thirds majority. Similarly, Chief Bisi Adegbuyi, in his contribution, said the conference should be allowed to adopt its own mode of deciding issues, warning that Nigeria must embrace and sustain the global parliamentary standard of the two-thirds majority. Chief Gani Adams was fully in support of the option, warning against any action capable of impeding the objective of the conference, which he said was to address all grey areas in the Nigerian federation. Earlier, a former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Alhaji Mohammadu Gambo Jimeta, took a contrary view, while insisting on consensus. “The most dangerous thing is for us to attempt to force our views on others. There are some elements and groups who are shouting and banging tables to intimidate others. It will not work,” he stated. He said the authorities put the conference together so that the delegates could fashion the way forward, for Nigeria. Awwal Yadudu, who is a professor of Law, also threw his weight behind those who canvassed for consensus, recalling that President Jonathan had emphasised the indissolubility of the country. On his part, Dr Ahmadu Ali, who said the conference had the privilege to benefit from the immense experience of three former Senate Presidents at the conference, backed the consensus, just as Nafisat Babajo, from Kaduna State, lent her voice to the position. Ambassador Hassan Adamu cautioned against the issue of voting pattern generating undue tension or raise tempers among the delegates, observing the position of the president was clear on the matter. Another issue that generated a heated debate was the power of the president to replace any member of the leadership that resigns or has to be dropped. While some of the delegates suggested that the president should be given the chance to name a replacement within 48 hours, others advocated that the status as contained in the draft rules should be retained. The issue of timing for the business of the conference equally elicited a lot of passion when Chief Olusegun Osoba said the two-hour break between 2.00 p.m. and 4.00 p.m. should either be reduced by one hour or cancelled. The issue of the appointment of chairmen and deputy chairmen of about 20 committees to be constituted also generated controversies at the Monday sitting. According to the draft rules and procedures for the conference presented to delegates, the leadership of the confab were to appoint members of the committees with their chairmen and deputy chairmen. This provision did not go down well with many of the delegates. A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, also in his contribution, objected to the provision. He agreed that the presiding officers of the conference could appoint the members, but warned that appointment of the chairmen and other officials should be left in the hands of each committee to decide. Ondo seeks fiscal federalism The Ondo State government called for proper devolution of power from federal to state governments, saying the Federal Government should leave education matters to states and the private sector. Ondo State Commissioner for Education and leader of the delegation in the confab, Mr Remi Olatubora, said this while speaking with newsmen during the conference break session. He said he came to the conference with a mandate of the state to seek for fiscal federalism, status of local government, resource control, among others. He said: “As a delegate representing Ondo State, I have my agenda. Those who sponsored me here have given me their mandate to represent them on some critical and fundamental issues. “These issues are matters partaining to the structures of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, fiscal federalism, status of local government, resource control, among others. ADVERTISEMENT “Let education reverse back to private entreprises and state governments. The Federal Givernment, for instance, has no business going to my village to build schools and health centres. It is misplacement of priority and lack of focus. “Rather, the Federal Government should be concerned with central issues. No doubt, the Federal Government can enunciate policies on health matters and broad and uniformed policies on education, but establishing universities or running a primary school should not be the business of the Federal Government,” he said. Delegates deny N12m allowance THE delegates to the ongoing national conference, on Monday, said they were entitled to about N9 million allowance for the three months duration of the conference, but not N12 million as reported in the media. This was even as Chief Ozekhome said that he would use his allowance for charity. Most of the delegates who confirmed receiving payment for the first week allowance told the Nigerian Tribune that what they received was N1,460, 000. Ozekhome, who also spoke on the issue on Monday, said he received a transaction alert of N1,460,000 from his bank for two weeks allowance, saying reports of “whopping” N4 million per month, amounting to N12 million for the three months duration of the national conference, was untrue. He, however, noted that the N3 million paid to each delegate was not too much considering the high cost of living in Abuja, the prohibitive air fares and considering that they had to abandon their businesses, among others. Meanwhile, a delegate from Anambra State, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife has canvassed the return of the country to the regional system of government, though with some modifications from the type practised in the First Republic. IPAC protests omission of 21 political parties The registered political parties, under the umbrella of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), on Monday, protested the recognition of only four political parties out of 21 political parties in the country at the ongoing national conference, describing it as unacceptable to the body. IPAC also lashed out at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the alleged commission’s poor preparations for the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, with particular reference to the Continuous Voters Register (CVR) and publicity for the electoral process. The chairman of IPAC, Dr Yinusa Tanko, stated these during the INEC/political parties quarterly meeting held at the INEC National Headquarters in Abuja, on Monday. The Federal Government only approved four parties which won seats in the National Assembly to participate at the confab namely the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressives Congress (APC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and Labour Party(LP) but the (APC) declined to send any representative to the conference. Women delegates object to masculine pronouns Some women delegates at the ongoing National Conference have objected to the use of masculine pronouns to refer to them in the rule of procedure in the conference. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the bone of contention has been the use of ‘he’, ‘his’ and ‘her’ during the plenary. Speaking on Monday in Abuja during deliberations on the drafted procedure for the conference, they said that the rule should be amended to read ``she” or ``he/she” or ``his/her” during plenary. Mrs Abiola Afolabi, who is the Executive Director, Women Advocates’ Research and Documentation Centre, Lagos, said that the amendment became necessary to ensure that women delegates were not marginalised. ``Mr Chairman, the rule referred to me as ``his” and I feel that I am not included in this proceeding. I am proposing that the rule should be amended to either be ``she” or we should use ``his/her”. She described the use of masculine pronouns in reference to women delegates at the conference as ``offensive”. Order XIV Rule 1 provides that: ``in these rules unless the context otherwise requires: (a) ``he” includes ``she”. But the women protested that ``he” could not have included ``she” but rather ``she” should include ``he”. When Order III Rule 1 was being debated, the women described the phrase ``every delegate shall enter his name” as excluding the women and demanded for inclusion. Another delegate, Mrs Bisi Olateru-Olagbegi, said that women delegates needed to be carried along in every aspect of the conference. Olagbegi called for a change in the language of the rules, adding that all the delegates were not men. ``It is important that we change the language once and for all. It is not difficult for us to change ``he” to ``she” or ``him to her’’. ``This is necessary so that the female delegates can also feel included in the whole process. ``This conference is an inclusive process for both male and female citizens of this country,’’ Olagbegi said. Mrs Josephine Anenih also urged the conference to change the language of the drafted rule to accommodate women and to avoid conflict in the conference. ``This is an area that will bring conflict and we don’t want conflict in this assembly. So, I want to move a motion that the language of gender be amended. ``It is either we say `he/she’ or `him/her’ or we adopt ``it’’ for neutral. Since we (men and women) are not `it’, then let us use ``he/she.” Anenih then moved a motion for the use of ``he/she” in the procedures rules and was seconded by a male delegate, Mameed Aminu, representing the Civil Society without a counter motion. NAN reports that the delegates, however, agreed that wherever ``he” appears in the procedure rules, it should now read ``he or she’’.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 20:14:15 +0000
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