Delegates who shook the National Conference

Many delegates played various roles in propagating their agenda, thereby adopting all manner of strategies to ensure that their interests were protected.The agenda that generated heated arguments and bickering were mostly those advanced by the geo-political zones, namely: South-South, South-West, South-East and the North. South-SouthReferred as the region that lays the golden egg, the Niger […]

Many delegates played various roles in propagating their agenda, thereby adopting all manner of strategies to ensure that their interests were protected.
The agenda that generated heated arguments and bickering were mostly those advanced by the geo-political zones, namely: South-South, South-West, South-East and the North.

South-South
Referred as the region that lays the golden egg, the Niger Delta delegates were led to the conference by former federal commissioner and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark:
Chief Edwin Clark: Apart from being the leader of the Ijaws, he is also the self-appointed political father of President Goodluck Jonathan. He didn’t hide that tremendous influence throughout the tenure of the conference.
Clark led the South -South delegation at the conference, providing them adequate political cover and historical anecdotes to drum up support for and push through their agenda.
On some occasions, the chief went the extra mile to issue both direct and veiled threats against what he termed ‘parasitic’ regions who constituted themselves as cog in the wheel of progress for their agenda.
He commanded respect and exerted fear among delegates because of his unfettered access to the Presidency.
Clark’s presidential suite at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel served as the political headquarters of the Niger Delta delegation.

Raymond Dokpesi
Dokpesi was at the conference under the platform of the media. But he switched from his professional calling to become the ‘chief executor’ of his Niger Delta region’s plan.
He implemented the strategies of Chief Clark, mobilizing support for the actualisation of the Niger Delta agenda.
He was the architect of the controversial document that was dubbed the ‘Dokpesi Report,’ which he said was the ‘consensus agreement’ by some delegates he assembled, a claim that was denied by delegates from the North.
The Dokpesi document, which was authored in his Asokoro office complex, generated serious bad blood that rocked the conference.
Northern delegates accused him of assembling his ‘friends’ to draft the new constitution, which conference deputy chairman, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, reportedly lobbied some Northern delegates to endorse.
Dokpesi used his broadcasting conglomerate to conduct a ‘survey,’ asking Nigerians whether or not they wanted a new constitution and referendum.

Sergeant Awuse
Awuse is another vocal delegate from the Niger Delta. At every opportunity, he amplified the neglect of the region and why other delegates should understand and allow his region’s economic autonomy.
Though his submissions were seen as very caustic, the delegate was never violent. He was among the lobbyists of the region.

Annkio Briggs
Ms Briggs is a federal government delegate from Niger Delta. She is an activist who never hides her feelings.
She advocated for the ‘total control’ of resource by the Niger Delta with vehemence.
As a member of the Devolution of Power Committee, she singlehandedly authored the controversial ‘minority report’, disagreeing with all others in the 30-member committee.
Throughout her intervention, Briggs believed that the security challenges across the country were being perpetrated by the Northerners to destabilise Jonathan’s administration.

Chief Victor Attah
The former Akwa Ibom governor who co-chaired the Devolution of Power committee was the ‘Chief diplomat’ of the region.
He achieved results by diplomatically reaching out to other delegates.  He commanded respect as a gentleman.
While the like of Clark, Briggs and Awuse ranted, Attah expressed his views in a gentle and pan-Nigerian manner, even while advocating for the Niger Delta.
It was this strategy that he used in resolving the contentious issues of resource control at the Devolution of Power committee.

South-East
The region came to the conference tagging itself as the most marginalised. The South-East delegates wanted more states and reparation for the Civil War, among others.

Chief Ike Nwachukwu
He was the leader of the South-East delegation to the conference. His approach was polite and was respected because of his non-controversial posture. Nwachukwu coordinated the activities of his delegation and presented their position at the plenary.
He co-chaired the second most important Political Restructuring and Forms of Government committee. The committee recommended the creation of an additional state in the South-East, ‘for equity’. But the conference later recommended four additional states for the region.

Chief Emeka Ezeife
The former Anambra State governor was one of the most vocal and controversial delegates from the South-East.
Throughout the sittings, Ezeife drummed support for President Jonathan and blamed Northerners for creating Nigeria’s problems, because of what he called their ‘born-to-rule psychosis.’

Adolf Wabara
The former Senate President used his eloquence to advocate for the region he hails from. He spoke mostly as a pan-Nigerian delegate even though he was craving for his region.
He and his colleague, former Senate President Ken Nnamani, provided the South-East delegation with the enough political taciturn and direction.

North
The North, which is the most populous region, came to the conference as a minority. From day one, Northern delegates were placed on the defensive. Some of its delegates played vital roles in protecting the interest of the region.

Professor Auwalu Yadudu
Yadudu, a professor of law and former presidential adviser, headed the intellectual wing of the Northern delegation.
Through his soft-spoken interventions, Yadudu defended the letters and spirit of the constitution, whenever there was any attempt to flout it.
From debates, to the status of the constitution, resource control, onshore/offshore dichotomy, new constitution, referendum, Yadudu took his position and supported it with relevant sections of the constitution.
His role, though very gentlemanly, didn’t go down well with other delegates, particularly from the Niger Delta, who looked at him as the defender of Northern interests, taking cover under the constitution. This was despite the fact that all his arguments were centred on constitutional provisions.
He was the head of the Northern think-tank at the conference.

Bashir Dalhatu
The former Minister of Power and Steel was another Northern delegate that served as the region’s voice.
Dalhatu was both a politician and a lawyer. He coordinated the region’s political strategies at the conference.
His contributions were mostly centred on correcting the general misconceptions and allegations against the North.

Ibrahim Coomassie
The chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and former Inspector General of Police was the leader of the Northern delegation.
He provided leadership role to the delegation even though he rarely talked during plenary. He was the co-chair of the Devolution of Power Committee.
Coomassie coordinated the Northern delegation so well that prominent delegates were picked and given roles according to their calling.

Iyorchia Ayu
The former Senate President played a key role in shaping the position of the North. His role was so significant because the Middle-Belt delegation had aligned with the South-South.
He was one of the prominent figures that usually led the Northern delegation. Unlike his other leading colleagues from the Middle-Belt, Ayu stood with the larger North and defended its interest.

Professor Jerry Gana
The former Minister of Information was first appointed as co-chairman of the Northern Delegates Forum (NDF) together with Coomassie.
But Gana’s attitude, particularly his apparent romance with the South-South group, made him to be replaced by General Jeremiah Useni (rtd).
Gana played a key role in further depleting the numerically-disadvantaged North at the conference, by aligning some Northern delegates with the Niger Delta in the name of the Middle-Belt Forum.

Ibrahim Mantu
Like Gana, Mantu was also one of the president’s men at the conference. He rarely spoke at the plenary.
The former Deputy Senate President, as usual played a clandestine role through his group the National Unity Forum.
He rarely advocated for any Northern interests. He was never seen aligning with any popular interest advocated by the region.
He was said to be working hand in hand with the likes of Malam Tanko Yakasai, Amb. Yusuf Mammam and Jerry Gana, among others to actualise President Jonathan’s agenda.
There were also several other Northern delegates that played vital roles for the region. They included: Professor Ibrahim Gambari, Dr Haruna Yerima, Comrade Nasiru Kura and Dr Junaidu Muhammad.

South West
The South-West delegation was headed by Chief Olu Falae. The region came with a federalist agenda that included state police and regional government.

Segun Osoba
The former governor was one of the most vocal delegates from the region. He marshalled his views and stood by them.
Osoba used political antecedents to advocate for the return to regionalism, parliamentary system, whittling down the powers of central government and state police.
His approach was sometimes seen as caustic, particularly on issues pertaining the North.

Ayo Adebanjo
Adebanjo was another colossus from the region. He talked passionately about the need to revert to regionalism and parliamentary system.
He advocated the age-long South-West agenda of ‘true federalism’ which entails Sovereign National Conference, among others.
Like his many colleagues, he also relished in bashing of the North.

Yinka Odumakin
The Afenifere stalwart played a key role in providing publicity backup for the South-West delegation.
He coordinated the region’s media activities and civil society activism.

Tunde Bakare
Evangelist and former vice presidential candidate, Bakare used his oratorical skills to marshal his views, mostly presented in pan-Nigerian manner even though they were regional in reality.

As confab rejects new constitution, battle shifts to N/Assembly
Following the unsuccessful attempt to adopt a draft new constitution at the concluded National Conference, attention will now be shifted to the National Assembly, where the confab report is ending up.
President Goodluck Jonathan had said during the inauguration of the conference that the report would be forwarded to the legislature for incorporation into the 1999 Constitution.
Before the agenda to introduce new constitution came up at the National Conference, it first surfaced in the hallowed red chambers of the Senate on April 2, 2014, when it was recommended by the Senate Constitution Review Committee (SCRC), chaired by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu.
Ekweremadu and his colleagues had inserted the controversial proposal as a clause in a bill seeking to further amend the 1999 Constitution and to, among other things, give President Jonathan powers to propose an entirely new constitution from the report of the confab.
The bill sought yet another amendment to Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution to make a fresh provision for the introduction of an entirely new constitution by the president.
It, however, faced stiff opposition from the Senators who described it as a backdoor attempt to legalise the National Conference.
They said the provisions of the bill were superfluous, unnecessary and ill-timed, and could spark public suspicion.
Our correspondent reports that the Senate had in July 2013, amended Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution stipulating a new amendment procedure, including a provision for a referendum to be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
However, the proposal was yet to be taken to the House of Representatives when Ekweremadu’s committee came up with a new version in April. The draft was still awaiting action up to the time the two chambers proceeded on their annual recess last month.
Whereas Section 9 (3B) of the 1999 Constitution precludes the parliament from initiating a proposal for an entirely new constitution, the bill passed by the Senate last July altered that and empowers only the National Assembly to propose a new constitution.
The Ekweremadu committee recommended that clause 2 of the fourth amendment bill, which is still pending before the two Houses, be altered to empower the president to propose a new constitution, in anticipation of the outcome of the National Conference.
“The National Assembly or the President may propose a new constitution for the Federation,” the new clause being proposed said.
“The aim of this insertion is to make provision for the President, in addition to the National Assembly, to initiate the process of a new constitution,” Senator Ekweremadu had explained.

‘Surreptitious’
But many senators contended that the move was a dangerous one which was “surreptitiously” aimed at giving legitimacy to the conference.
Faced with stout opposition by his colleagues, Senator Ekweremadu was compelled to withdraw the clause from the bill.
Basking in the euphoria of their success at thwarting Ekweremadu’s attempt to smuggle what many referred to as “another third term,” the lawmakers went to sleep. Little did they know that the forces that brought the controversial bill didn’t follow them to sleep, they remained awake while others snored.
Senators were again shell-shocked on June 5, (just two months after they rebuffed the first attempt) when Senator Ekweremadu again made a fast move by re-introducing the same clause in the Senate chamber.
As expected, the move was aborted by some senators. However, with the president’s apparent desperation and a willing hatchet man, analysts say the controversial clause is likely to resurface in the upper chamber, especially after its adoption as part of the National Conference report.
Daily Trust, a sister publication of Sunday Trust had exclusively reported back in April that some of the likely provisions of the new constitution include abolishing of the 774 local government areas as the third tier of government, stoppage of federal allocation to the local governments, setting aside 50 per cent of oil revenues for the Niger Delta, creation of an additional state for the South-east and provision of a six-year single term for the president.
The six-year term was first proposed by the Ekweremadu committee in June last year, but it was rejected by the Senate in July last year. Already, northern delegates at the concluded National Conference had alleged that the new constitution was tantamount to another third term, as it would pave way for Jonathan to seeks fresh mandate if it is promulgated, as it happened in 2003 in the case of three governors of Yobe, Kogi and Ondo.
Jonathan has been lobbying interest groups to support his bid to introduce a new constitution. The president has been meeting with various groups, pleading with them to see reason with him on the need for a new constitution, sources told Sunday Trust.
Analysts predicted that with such apparent desperation on the part of the president, the last may not have been heard of the controversial clause as it could resurface again on the floor of the hallowed red chamber anytime in the near future.
Observers have always argued that the Senate is seen as a mere extension of the Executive as it is always a willing tool to actualise any agenda being pushed by the Jonathan administration.
The only challenge may come from the House of Representatives where the opposition has a sizeable majority and is emboldened by the body language of Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.
But pundits say the proposal may scale through with the tacit support of deputy speaker Emeka Ihedioha who is a staunch Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member.
Presently, the lawmakers are on their annual vacation but sources said already the Presidency’s foot soldiers had since started lobbying the leadership over the new constitution project, which may be presented in early October when the lawmakers resume.
All eyes are now on the National Assembly where the battle will be fought in the coming months.