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| L-R: Confab leaders, Kutigi and Akinyemi |
Tension rose at the National
Conference on Monday as delegates considered the minutes of their sitting last
Thursday in Abuja.
Delegates had arrived early for the
sitting, which was considered very important due to the controversies generated
as a result of the considerations and decisions reached on other reports by the
conference last week.
As a result of the reported anger by
some delegates over this, stern-looking security operatives were stationed at
the main entrance of the hall where the sitting took place.
Trouble started when Yusuf Abubakar,
from Sokoto State drew the attention of the Chairman of the conference, Justice
Idris Kutigi to the letter he said delegates from the northern part of the
country sent to him on some of the decisions taken in the past.
Kutigi had called delegates to
suggest amendments or move for the adoption of the minutes of the debates and
proceedings of Thursday.
“So, Mr. chairman, it is very
important to let us know your reply and we are serious about the issues we
raised in the letter. We cannot adopt the minutes without hearing from you,”
Abubakar said.
He reminded the conference that it
must abide by its rules that provides for a situation where, when a voice vote
is taken and some delegates are not satisfied, he said those delegates have the
right to call for a division.
Kutigi however ignored him and
called for further amendment to the reports, if there were any.
Abubakar insisted that the issue he
raised must be addressed, saying that the conference had taken some decisions
in error.
A labour delegate, Mr, Issa Aremu,
in his contribution, also faulted the recommendation for the creation of
states, saying that it was wrong to create more states when those in existence
according to him, were battling to pay salaries.
This comment further emboldened
Abubakar who stood up and said, “We are making error because the proceedings
are wrong.
“I won’t sit down because these are
fundamental issues. It is my privilege under Order 10 Rule One that says all
decisions shall be by consensus or be decided by 70 per cent of delegates
present. I called for a division, but we are being ignored. We have to use the
law and not convention.”
At this point, Kutigi became angry
and said, “I can rule you out of order. I then rule you out of order.”
A Former Minister of Women Affairs,
Mrs. Josephine Anenih, advised the delegates to mind the way they speak, just
as she advised the Chairman “not to allow anyone raise your blood pressure”,
adding that “we don’t have to die because we want to make Nigeria great”.
Another delegate, Aisha Madawaki,
wondered how the names of the states were arrive at, and demanded the
modalities used, insisting that the delegates were not consulted.
Abdulsalam Olawale, in his
submission, said it was wrong for the conference not to have named Ose as one
of the states to be created, saying all the people from the area where the
proposed state would be created have agreed to its creation.
Mr. Robert Audu told the conference
that the compilation of the states to be created was fraudulent, saying the
list did not emanate from any of the conference committees.
A traditional ruler from the
South-West, Oba Aderemi Adedapo insisted that Oduduwa State was on the list of
the states recommended to be created.
He said, “The agitation for the
creation of this state, whose capital would be in Ile-Ife, has been on for the
past 30 years. We want the state evaluate every Yoruba believe that he hails
from Ile -Ife.”
Senator Ibrahim Idah also queried
the allocation of two states to the North-West, when he said, the zone remains
the most populated in the country, just as Mrs. Talatu Nasir from Katsna State,
wondered why states like Kaduna were omitted.
As delegates were booing many of the
speakers, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari appealed to delegates to stop shouting down
other delegates even if they did not agree with views being expressed.
He reminded them and the conference
leadership that the Northern Delegates Forum had drew the attention of confab
leadership on the abuse of the Voice Votes and that they felt very strongly
that amendments should not be considered as the final outcome of confab.
He said confab leadership promised
to look into the matter and urged the leadership to continue to guide the
confab well.
Gambari suggested that Confab must
strictly follow the rules of procedure. He urged that the use of voice votes
should be minimized.
He went on to recommend that all
amendments to issues should be sent to delegates earlier. He said all that he
said are contained in the letter they sent to the confab leadership.
A former Minister of Information,
Chief Edwin Clark, regretted the action of some delegates, which he said was
becoming negative when the conference was widening down.
In anger, he said it was wrong for
anyone or tribe to assume that Niheria belongs to them, saying, “This country
called Nigeria was made up of equal citizens, and that was the basis of its
amalgamation. We are all the same and no one is bigger than the other.
“We have children that went to some
of the best schools in the world, so, no one should come to flaunt his
professorship here. No one must insist that only his point of view should be
reflected.”
He particularly frowned at Prof.
Awwalu Yadudu for a letter to another delegate, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi in which he
said delegates from the north were withdrawing from a committee of 18 delegates
who met earlier to arrive at positions on behalf of all the zones.
He appealed to delegates to be
united and avoid sentiments.
Another former Minister, who was
also a former Acting National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party,
Dr. Haliru Mohammed said though he agreed that consensus had been used in
reaching agreements and that the conference should stick to it,
“The report of the committee is not
sacrosanct and we should be allowed to meet and talk on issues that are not
agreeable,” he said amidst shout of ‘no, no,” by some delegates.
Yadudu sought for permission from
Kutigi to respond to the issues raised by Clark and Dokpesi.
He said it should be on record that
Dokpesi was wrong to say what was circulated in form of agreement among the six
zones was the decisions reached by the committee that Gambari and himself led.
“No issue such as term of agreement between the zones were agreed,” he said.
He added that Dokpesi was wrong to
say he was not a member of the 18 delegates. He said he was a member alongside
Bello Suleiman and Ruqayyat Rufai from the North-West
Yadudu said he was not in the
conference to scuttle it as being speculated. “In fact, on the contrary, I am
one of those who made it possible for the confab to proceed as one of the 50
wise men”, he added.
He said since he represents a people
and express the views of such people who he said sent him to the conference, he
had no regret over his actions.
On the document, he insisted that it
was nothing “but a set of agreements reached by the South-South, South-East,
South-West and some elements of the middle belt.”
Punch
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