Delegates vote on derivation, others as consensus fails

IT is now obvious that moves by the leadership of the on going National Conference to cultivate the desired compromise leading to the consensus required, to pass the amended recommendations from the report of its Committee on Devolution of Power, have failed.     The committee chaired by Victor Attah and Ibrahim Coomasie had submitted some recommendations that have further widened the North-South dichotomy and also polarised the regions, such that after two days of negotiations, reconciliatory meetings and horse-trading, no compromise has been  reached, as each delegate insists their individual beliefs, regional interest and sectional considerations must sail through.
    The issues of resource control, derivation principle, revenue sharing and the development and exploitation of mineral resources nationwide among others form the fulcrum of the report.
After critical assessment and valid inputs from the delegates, the report needs to be passed on with the appropriate amendments for final recommendations.

   At the plenary yesterday holding at the National Judicial Institute (NJI) Abuja, the Chairman of the Conference, Justice Idris Kutigi, had called for further adjournment to enable delegates interact, lobby and possibly negotiate on certain contentious issues, after the “Leaders of thought”, made of three delegates from each of the six geopolitical zones, failed to reach a resolution on the issues of derivation principle, particularly.
   General Ike Nwachukwu backed up by co-leader, Mohammed Kumalia said with the mandate of the “wise men” the meetings by the leaders of the zones have tried albeit unsuccessfully to reach a compromise, after meeting severally with delegates on the “derivation issue, but they have gone far with the negotiations, and as such be allowed to continue with the consultations and report back to the conference tomorrow”(today).
   Kumalia, a delegate from North East said while seconding the motion by Nwachukwu, “Mr. Chairman, in view of the fact that it is very important just as we started this conference on pleasant note, you  urged us to be given the opportunity to end this conference on a pleasant note as well.
   “In view of this, we feel that the leadership and delegates should give us the opportunity to again meet tonight and conclude then we can report to you tomorrow on some of the consensus reached.”
   Kutigi called for a voice vote and it was unanimously adopted.
   However, The Guardian gathered that contrary to this assurance, the expected compromise, which would have ensured an easy sail of the amended recommendations, was not reached, so delegates would be required to vote today at plenary.
    Earlier on Monday, the report submitted by the committee indicated that a consensus was reached on the issue to the effect that the status quo be maintained in order to avoid upsetting the existing peace and equilibrium in the polity which it described as a product of years of political engineering and craftsmanship.
    Apparently piqued by the inability of the conference’s  Leaders of thought to come to an acceptable compromise, an elder statesman, Chief  Edwin Clark while advocating  the need to consider the corporate existence and unity of Nigeria ahead of sectional and ethnic interest, expressed regret that the Consensus committee constituted to resolve contentious issues that may arise in the course of adoption of the recommendation of committees was “scattered” midway. Even though “we came to this conference in order to have consensus on contentious issues.”
    Delegates’ intervention on the reports of the Committee presented to the House on Monday had suggested positions contrary to the predilections among themselves. The suggestion of the delegates ranges from 17per cent , 21.5per cent  and others 35per cent as well as 50 per cent, contrary to the suggested maintenance of the status quo at 13 per cent.
   A statement issued by the Conference Assistant Secretary, Media and Communication James Akpandem, said the decision to shift the voting to today was to calm the already heightened emotions at the conference.
    But a delegate, who was also selected among the leaders of thought told The Guardian that the intention was to unanimously agree on the amendments and correct some other recommendations put forward by the committee as contained in the report, but most of the representatives from the different regions refused to budge, as their “regional interest is not satisfactorily protected even if the suggested corrections/amendments are made.
  “It is apparent that the mindset initially brought to the conference by some delegates is beginning to manifest and would affect the outcome of the conference, eventually. Because of this, the issues would be put to vote tomorrow (today) and I assure you, there would be a lot of heat”, he said.
    To this end, the conference is expected to receive the position of the Consensus group in plenary today and delegates will vote on the recommendations and amendments to the recommendations of the Committee report.