Connect with us

Politics

National Confab: Nigeria At It Again

Published

on

In the next three months,
beginning from today, 492 ‘wise men’ who are believed to be the true  representatives of over 160 million Nigerians will be putting the soul of Nigeria on the slab, courtesy of the national conference. The national dialogue which kicks off today in the nation’s capital, Abuja with the inauguration of  492 delegates is a platform that affords Nigerians yet another opportunity to agree on the basis of their togetherness.
The state of the nation which has been held captive by the nation’s main fault lines – politics, religion and ethnicity, has made the conference compellingly appealing to many Nigerians, even though some others have questioned the timing of the conference and the motive behind the Federal Government’s sudden romance with a national dialogue it had consistently rejected as unnecessary.
This year’s talkshop will be one in a series of discussions that would take place since the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern protectorates by the British colonialists in 1914 to form a single entity known as Nigeria. The first discussion which took place in 1922 gave birth to Clifford Constitution which  introduced the principle of election in Nigerian politics. This was followed by another talkshop which produced the 1946 Richard Constitution that recognised regionalism in Nigeria, and then the 1951 Macpherson Constitution which was a bye-product of a conference that recognised federalism and expanded the frontiers of regional autonomy.
In 1953, there was yet another constitutional conference in London that produced a federal constitution known as the 1954 Lyttleton Constitution. That constitution allocated limited but specific powers to the federal government while allowing the three regions that made up Nigeria at that time – North, West and East, to develop at their own pace.
The 1957 constitutional conference also in London, prepared Nigeria for independence and gave birth to the 1960 Constitution; while the conference that produced the 1963 Republican Constitution formally freed Nigeria from the apron strings of the British colonialists. The year 1978 saw Nigeria organising a constituent Assembly which produced the 1979 Constitution and the presidential system of government, while 20 years later, Nigeria achieved another constitution – 1999 Constitution which is now in place, and currently undergoing amendment.
With the exemption of the 1995 and 2005 national confabs held under General Sani Abacha and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, respectively, and whose  outcome were not effected, other national dialogues produced results and made clear impacts in moving Nigeria forward. This year’s talk shop  is expected to produce similar results, depending however on how the 492 delegates canvass and aggregate their views at the confab.
Most of the discussions that will feature in the conference are already in the public domain, as have been  canvassed by several ethnic groups in the country. But the most central and perhaps most thorny ones are issues of true federalism and resource control. Given the cacophony of voices trailing these two issues over the years, with the South-West and South-South leading the campaign in favour of true federalism and resource control as against the North’s retention of the status quo, it will require a political savvy on the   part of the delegates to resolve the impasse these contentious issues might create.
Rising from a Pan-Niger Delta conference organised by the Social Development Integrated Centre in collaboration with other civil society and community groups in Port Harcourt on January 28, the South South demanded a structuring of the country into a truly federal state where the component ethnic nationalities own and control their natural resources with residual powers residing in the constituent units.
Also on February 24, the various ethnic nationalities in Southern Nigeria met in Calabar to articulate their positions in the national conference. The Southern leaders summit which was attended by delegates from the three southern geopolitical zones – South-West, South-East and South-South deliberated extensively on the issue of resource control as the only way to make the federating units look inward by exploring and exploiting their natural resources under the economic principle of comparative advantage. It also recommended an increase in the percentage of revenue allocation from oil and gas production under the derivation principle.
In a separate position, the Committee of Benin Elders, just like their counterparts in the South-West, proposed regional governments.  The Benin Elders Committee particularly proposed the structuring of the country into eight regions with four regions each for Northern Nigeria and Southern Nigeria. The committee also proposed that the regions should be allowed to control their resources and pay a royalty tax of 25 per cent to the Federal Government.
For the Northern Nigeria, however, there was the need for a review of the revenue sharing formular. Although the North held no mini or pre-national conference to articulate a common position to be presented at the national conference, its leaders have consistently opposed the idea of resource control, just as they have always argued that the huge allocations to the South South, where the bulk of the nation’s revenue comes from through oil exploration, amount to an injustice. The Arewa Consultative Forum which is regarded as the mouthpiece of the North, at a public hearing  in Sokoto, called for the abolition of onshore/offshore dichotomy in the calculation  of revenue accruing to the littoral states.
While it may be difficult to predict the outcome of the confab, there are two issues that are germane to the success or otherwise of the talkshop. The first is the issue of whether or not Nigeria should remain as one indivisible entity. And if the answer is yes, what will be the term of reference of living together peacefully?
Although President Goodluck Jonathan had during the inauguration of the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue, last year, foreclosed any discussion on the unity of the country, the objection of some delegates to the President’s no-go-area, calls for utmost caution, especially against the backdrop of secession threat by a section of the South East, as represented by  the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).
There is also a groundswell of objections to some recommendations of the Senator Femi Okunrounmu-led Presidential Advisory Committee which designed the modality for the national conference. While the committee recommended that the outcome of the conference be ratified by the National Assembly,   many Nigerians, including some of the delegates prefer that the outcome of the confab be subjected to a referendum.
Whatever option the confab chooses to ratify its decisions, it is expected that the outcome will promote unity and peace among all ethnic nationalities, and above all assuage the feelings of ordinary people who have over the past 100 years of existence as Nigerians been held down by socio-economic, political and ethno -religious challenges that were recently exarcerbated  by the seemingly intractable Boko Haram insurgency.

 

L-R: Afenifere Chieftain, Sir Olaniwun Ajayi, Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State and Chief Ayo Adebanjo, during the preliminary meeting of the Yoruba Committee on National Conference in Ijebu Ode last Monday

L-R: Afenifere Chieftain, Sir Olaniwun Ajayi, Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State and Chief Ayo Adebanjo, during the preliminary meeting of the Yoruba Committee on National Conference in Ijebu Ode last Monday

Boye Salau

Continue Reading

Politics

Rivers Assembly Resumes Sitting After Six-Month Suspension

Published

on

The Rivers State House of Assembly yesterday resumed plenary session after a six-month state of emergency imposed on the state by President Bola Tinubu elapsed on Wednesday midnight.

President Bola Tinubu had lifted the emergency rule on September 17, with the Governor of the state, Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and members of the state assembly asked to resume duties on September 18.

The plenary was presided over by the Speaker of the House, Martins Amaewhule, at the conference hall located within the legislative quarters in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

The conference hall has served as the lawmakers’ temporary chamber since their official chamber at the assembly complex on Moscow Road was torched and later pulled down by the state government.

The outgone sole administrator of the state, Ibok-Ete Ibas, could not complete the reconstruction of the assembly complex as promised.

Recall that on March 18, President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers following the prolonged political standoff between Fubara and members of the House of Assembly loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

He subsequently suspended the governor, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and lawmakers for six months and installed a sole administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd.), to manage the state’s affairs.

The decision sparked widespread controversy, with critics accusing the president of breaching the Constitution.

However, others hailed the move as a necessary and pragmatic step.

Continue Reading

Politics

2027: Bayelsa APC Adopts Tinubu As Sole Candidate  … As Lokpobiri, Lyon Shun Meeting 

Published

on

The Bayelsa State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress(APC) have passed a ‘Vote of Confidence’ on President Bola Tinubu and also adopted him as sole candidate of the party for the 2027 presidential polls.
Speaking in Yenagoa, the state capital, during the ’12th Expanded Stakeholders’ meeting of the party, the APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, stressed the importance of the state’s chapter of the party to its national leadership.
Represented by the party’s Deputy National Chairman (South), Chief Emma Eneukwu, the National Chairman urged all stakeholders to unite to secure victory for the party, come 2027 general elections, adding that the party will give the state chapter the necessary support it requires to win in all future polls.
He appealed to aggrieved leaders of the party in the state to jettison their differences and tow the path of peace, describing the reconciliatory move as commendable while promising that the party’s national leadership will do all within its powers to ensure its success.
“President Tinubu is a pragmatic leader, and a progressive determined to transform Nigeria for the betterment of all. The developmental strides recorded by the  president is attracting governors and National Assembly members from the opposition into the APC.
“We’ll ensure that the interest of the
party is managed. Bayelsa is important to our party, and we must do whatever we have to do, for the victory of the party in the state. We have a very good candidate in the president and that is why the South- South governors are taking the lead to join our party in support of the president for his reelection”, he said.
“Mr. President is on the move to take Nigerians to the promised land, and the only way to achieve this is in unity. The leadership of the party in the state need to show more tolerance and carry everyone along. Other state governors in other regions that are not in our party will soon join us, so that if the president is returned, everything will go smoothly.
“I want the former governor of the state, Chief Timipre Sylva, to personally lead the reconciliation so we can achieve the unity we desire. Forget all differences and bring everyone together”, he added.
Also speaking, the leader of the state chapter of the party  and former Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, noted that the national secretariat of the party  had not treated the state fairly, noting that if the national leadership of the APC had given the state the support it needed, the party would have achieved more.
Chief Sylva called on absentee leaders of the party at the meeting, particularly Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, and former Governor-elect of the State, Chief David Lyon, to close ranks and work with other leaders to move the party forward.
“I wonder why the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri and former Governor-elect, Chief David Lyon are not here. We’re all Bayelsans, we’re all Ijaw people, they should come and let’s work together for the greater interest of the party. We did well in 2023, but not what we expected.
“2027 is already a done deal, if we have the support of the national leaders of the party. Today we’re more ready than ever before.The only thing we lack is support from the party at the national level. With your support we’ll be the strongest, and nobody will be able to stand us in elections”, Chief Sylva said.
In his remarks, the Managing Director /Chief Executive Officer of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Samuel Ogbuku, noted that most people thought the party was no more in existence, but that the NWC could see that the party is alive and kicking.
“Reconciliation is on and those in charge are doing well. The party has members in the state who were ‘victory-hungry”, he said.
Earlier, State Chairman of the party, Dr Dennis Otiotio, said the meeting was to critically appraise the performance of the president and also adopt him as the sole candidate of the party for the 2027 presidential election.
By Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa
Continue Reading

Politics

Alleged Smear Campaign Against Yakubu, CSOs Demand Apology From Uzodimma

Published

on

The Transparency and Accountability Rights Initiative, a coalition of Nigerian Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), has issued a strong condemnation of Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, accusing him of orchestrating a malicious smear campaign against the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, and development advocate Dr. Chima Amadi.

During a press conference held in Owerri, the coalition called the campaign a “dangerous and shameful display” designed to distract the public from the governor’s performance in office.

The CSOs directly linked the Greater Imo Initiative (GII) —the group that made the allegations on September 4, 2025—to Governor Uzodimma, describing the group as his “mouthpiece and attack dog.”

“Every word spoken against INEC was spoken on his behalf.

“By falsely alleging that Professor Yakubu has an alliance with Dr. Amadi to compromise the 2027 elections, Uzodimma has not only maligned a man of proven integrity but also assaulted the very foundation of our democracy”, said Dr Agbo Frederick, speaking for the coalition.

The coalition described Professor Yakubu as a “beacon of electoral professionalism” and called the attempt to soil his reputation “defamatory and a national security risk.”

They also defended Dr. Amadi, a “respected development scholar,” stating that the governor’s accusations were “laughable, desperate, and dangerous.”

The CSOs see the motive behind the campaign as an attempt to “silence the dissent, intimidate the opposition, and divert attention from the governor’s abysmal record in office.”

The coalition issued four key demands to Governor Uzodimma: An immediate retraction of the false and defamatory allegations against Professor Mahmood Yakubu and Dr. Chima Amadi.

  • A public apology to both men within seven days, to be published in at least three national newspapers and broadcast on major television networks.
  • An end to diversionary tactics and proxy propaganda.
  • A renewed focus on governance, including addressing insecurity, unemployment, and poverty in Imo State.

The CSOs warned that failure to comply would force them to “review our position with a view to seeking legal redress from Governor Uzodimma for defamation, false accusation, and reckless endangerment of lives.”

“Governor Uzodimma must be reminded that he did not find himself in the seat of power to chase shadows.

“We call on all Nigerians to reject Uzodimma’s diversionary antics as they are nothing short of desperate plots by a government terrified of accountability”, the statement concluded.

Continue Reading

Trending