7.2 Convocation of National Constitutional Conferences and Constitution Drafting Committees
7.2.4 Constitutional Conferences in the Fourth Republic
President Obasanjo inaugurated the National Political Reforms Conference 2005, also known as Confab 2005, in February 2005, and its members were mainly picked by the president and state governors (Nwabueze, 2013). The Confab 2005 had no constitutional backing, neither
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did the National Assembly approve the fund to finance it (Ajayi, 2006: 124 and 127). Its mandate was to look into issues like political party system, electoral, legal, civil society, police/prison reforms, intergovernmental relations and structure of government (Ajayi, 2006:
124 and 126). The ‘no-go areas’ are the country's unity, federal character, federalism, religious diversity, separation of powers, essential objectives, and principles of state policy (Ajayi, 2006: 124 and 126). The purpose of the Conference, as stated by the then Attorney General, Akinlolu Olujimi was part of the consultation process to aid the Presidency and National Assembly in addressing salient national issues (Nwabueze, 2013).
In the 2005 Conference, the Niger Delta delegates (Niger Delta elites) demanded an initial 25% derivation for a short term and for it to become 50% in the long term, but the Northern delegates (Northern elites) rejected that and tabled 17% before the Conference which the oil producing areas’ delegates rejected (Okpanachi and Garba, 2010: 6-7; Usman, 2014a: 383).
This led to a walkout by the delegates from the South South and South West (Niger Delta and Yoruba Elites, respectively) who demanded 'more favourable' fiscal federalism (Usman, 2014a: 383). The Conference ended abruptly due to failure to agree on certain issues, especially that of derivation (Nwabueze, 2013). It is apparent that the distribution of resources dominated the interests of the elites during this Conference. It can be concluded that Northern elites had their way because the country still uses the 13% derivation principle, which has been in use before the Conference. The Confab 2005 still could not cement the fragments the North-South relationship had generated.
The administration of Goodluck Jonathan convened a constitutional conference in 2014. The National Conference was inaugurated on March 17, 2014, and it was made up of 492 delegates and a six-member conference management (National Conference, 2014: 23 and 44). The 2014 Constitutional Conference had an imbalanced composition as Muslims were 198 out of 492 delegates despite their population in the country; its establishment without legislation by the National Assembly portrayed it as trying to hijack the functions of the National Assembly and bringing out the conspicuous gulf between the Southern decentralist and Northern centralist perspectives on federalism (Suberu, 2019: 18).
President Goodluck Jonathan mandated the Conference to proffer a solution to the challenges of national unity and development and that the only ‘no-go-area’ is any discussion on the break-up of the country (National Conference, 2014: 34). The conference recommended that
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police should be moved from the exclusive to the concurrent list, independent candidacy, minority rights, recognition of traditional rulers in the constitution, devolution of political and fiscal powers, among others (National Conference, 2014: 140, 339, 342, 346 and 347). It also recommended rotating public offices at the three levels of government. That the office of the President should be rotated between the North and the South and among the six geo- political zones, rotation of the office of the governor among the three senatorial districts in the state and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should divide each local government into two or three areas which should be the basis for rotating the chairmanship position (National Conference, 2014: 286). It also recommended that women, youth and the physically challenged should be allowed to participate in the political process (National Conference, 2014: 286).
The delegates from the South-South (Niger Delta elites) demanded that the 13% derivation should increase and threatened that failure to do so meant the creeks will know no peace (Nwabughiogu, 2014). Conspicuously, the distribution of resources was also a key feature.
The Northern elites, as usual, were not in support of this. This is in congruence with Suberu’s earlier view on the centralist (Northern elites) and decentralist (Southern elites) views of these elites (Suberu, 2019: 18). It is difficult to fully ascertain which side the pendulum swung because the resolutions of the Conference are yet to be implemented. The resolution of the Conference (on pages 78 to 527 of the report) can promote true federalism if implemented, but Jonathan's government had no time to implement them, and Buhari's government has not considered the report either. This view is shared by PISSOL, but he preferred considering not only the 2014 Constitutional Conference but also the Constitutional Conference of 94/95. He stated that ‘the 1995 Conference, the 2014 Conference, those volumes contain lofty ideas on how Nigeria can wax stronger as a federation and as a presidential government and as a democracy’ (PISSOL, December 2018). Although all the resolutions cannot be implemented, if some of them have been implemented, integration would have received a boost in Nigeria.
Generally, the ‘no-go areas’ specified in these conferences, reduces the actualisation of national unity. PINCP was of the view that:
What makes a Hausa man afraid of the Igbo man and why is the Igbo man afraid of the Yoruba person. These are issues we need to look at for us to have national integration. Until we look at that and agree because each time, we have national conferences, we are told, do not deliberate on these areas. These areas are precluded
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from deliberation. We must come together, our hands on the table, face up and agree as to what we need to address as a nation. Then we can move forward and begin to talk about national integration (PINCP, January 2019).
This assertion attests to the fact that past conferences need to be revisited (utilise some of the recommendations and agree on new things). To achieve this, all stakeholders need to convene a SNC and be sincere on how to bolster integration in Nigeria.