National Conference: Delegates disagree on consensus on resolutions

Delegates to the National Conference resumed Monday to debate the draft rules of procedure, which they agreed should be considered clause by clause.

However, the delegates during the debate failed to agree on how to reach a consensus on their decisions, prompting the conference Chairman, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, to defer further discussions of the matter for another time.

The debate on the consensus brought to the fore one of the fault lines in the country as it pitted delegates from the north against their southern counterparts.

While the northern delegates said resolutions of the conference should be reached based on the vote of 75 per cent of the 492 delegates, their southern counterparts pushed for a two-thirds majority vote, representing 66 per cent of the participants.

The controversy over resolutions of the conference through a consensus arrangement began when Chief Mike Ozekhome called for a review of Order 6, Rule 4 and Rule 11 as well as Order 11, Rules 1 and 2 of the Conference Procedures, which state that a resolution at the conference will be reached through a 75 per cent vote of the delegates.

The chairman of the conference, Justice Idris Kutigi, had also ruled to adopt the resolution but Ozoekhome in a motion supported by Chief Adeniyi Akintola, urged the conference to adopt the best parliamentary practice of two-thirds of the delegates.

Ozekhome argued that in a conference of 492 delegates, to pass a resolution through a 75 per cent majority vote would be near impossible and would only enthrone a tyrannical minority.

He said adopting such a voting system would make it impossible to pass resolutions on issues such as resource control, regionalism, state police, type of government and other critical matters that agitate the minds of Nigerians.

According to him, a two-thirds majority is the global parliamentary practice adopted in passing resolutions and the National Conference will do well to embrace global best practice.

Supporting Ozekhome, Akintola said if President Goodluck Jonathan had decided to force the 75 per cent vote on the delegates to pass a resolution, there would be no need for them to continue with the national discourse.

Also contributing to the debate, a former Secretary of the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Olu Falae, and Mr. Bisi Adegboye advanced the position of the southern delegates that resolutions should be reached based on a two-thirds majority.

Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo and leader of the Odua People's Congress (OPC), Chief Gani Adams, also supported the argument for a two-thirds majority vote.

Adebanjo said the argument to use consensus might be an avenue to prevent decisions from being reached at the conference, as it would amount to setting impossible conditions for the delegates to meet.
 
But Professor Awwal Yadudu, a delegate from the North-west, faulted the arguments of Ozekhome and Akintola, saying as much as everybody believes in the indivisibility and indissolubility of Nigeria as a sovereign nation, it would be better if decisions are reached by 75 per cent of the delegates.

Also, a former Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Gambo-Jimeta, who warned delegates against intimidating others, spoke in the same vein.

He urged all the delegates to support the the 75 per cent majority vote in the overall interest of the conference.

He said: “If we want to get anything perfect here, it will not be possible based on the way the delegates were selected. Although no one is trying to destroy what has been put together for the conference, no one should try to force his will and subsequently spoil this opportunity to chart a new course for the country.”

Hajia Naratu Babajo, a delegate from Kaduna State, reiterated the position of the northern delegates on the adoption of a 75 per cent majority vote in passing resolutions on all issues.