Committee rejects resource control by states

The committee members reached a consensus on the issue by retaining the contentious Item 39 of 1999 Constitution on the Exclusive Legislative List with a slight modification.The item deals with the exclusive rights of the federal government to legislate on issues regarding “mines and minerals, including oil fields, oil mining, geological surveys and natural gas.”The […]

The committee members reached a consensus on the issue by retaining the contentious Item 39 of 1999 Constitution on the Exclusive Legislative List with a slight modification.
The item deals with the exclusive rights of the federal government to legislate on issues regarding “mines and minerals, including oil fields, oil mining, geological surveys and natural gas.”
The committee reframed the contentious Item 39 to read thus: “Mines and all minerals, including oil fields, oil mining, geological surveys and natural gas, provided that: (A) The government of the state where mining activities take place shall be involved in matters relating hereto; (B) The government of the Federation shall make special grants to develop mines and minerals in states where such resources are undeveloped.”
The contentious issue has been lingering since last week Thursday, dividing the committee members along regional lines.
The delegates couldn’t reach a decision as each side of the divide presented incompatible positions on the issue.
While delegates from the North wanted the status quo maintained as contained in the current constitution, delegates from the South believed the item should be transfer to the Concurrent Legislative List to allow states have a say on the issue.
The modification of the item which has been a major cause of set-back in the committee’s deliberation was celebrated by members shortly after Professor Nsongurua Udombana, a delegate from Akwa Ibom State, moved the motion for the modification.
Former Governor of Akwa Ibom State and co-chairman of the committee, Obong Victor Attah, who briefed journalists after a two-hour close session on the issue, said the committee was able to arrive at a consensus after a very tedious debate.
He said the modification of the provision was a part of the decision of the committee and by extension, the National Conference, aimed at ensuring that certain economic activities hitherto concentrated in the federal government were decentralized.
He said the committee, in the performance of its functions, was determined to be thorough particularly in considering movement of items from the Exclusive to the Concurrent List and vice versa.
He described discussions on Item 36 as difficult since there were those who felt that because the resources belong to areas where they are found, the item should be moved to the Concurrent List.
On the other hand, he said others believed that since it was not all the states that boast of huge deposit of mineral resources, those who have such resources would have imbalance advantage over the poor states.
Attah said the decision to reframe the provision as proposed, was in consideration of the fact that since the item would still be in the Exclusive Legislative List, then state governments were not in a position to issue licenses to those interested in exploiting the mineral resources.
He said the focus of the committee in reviewing the Exclusive Legislative List was to find ways of getting areas where mineral deposits are found involved in the business of mining those resources for a better Nigeria.
Speaking to Daily Trust after the truce, Dr Haruna Yerima from Borno State said the development would enable federal government develop mineral resources across northern states through the special grants.
“If implemented, the northern states would have a better deal where its mineral resources deposits would be developed through the special grants, which is now a constitutional provision,” he said.