Posted by Sam Akpe, Gbade Ogunwale, Chiawo Nwankwo and Ibanga Isines on
President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday in Abuja described as 'unfortunate" the decision of the South-South delegates to walk out of the just-concluded National Political Reform Conference.
President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday in Abuja described as 'unfortunate" the decision of the South-South delegates to walk out of the just-concluded National Political Reform Conference.
Presenting two copies of the NPRC report to the National Assembly for consideration and possible enactment into a new Constitution, Obasanjo said the delegates from the geopolitical zone were not only manipulated but had little understanding of the goals of the conference.
The President, who restated that the conference was a huge success, said that those that championed the walkout tried to mix up the powers and functions of the NPRC with those of the legislature.
He said: 'It is my opinion that no matter how we look at it, the conference was a success.
'We in government were not naïve enough to have thought that there would be no disagreement, rigorous discussion and debate of national issues, and that there would be no political posturing and some grandstanding.
'Of course, the use of walk-out in this age when the entire world is voting for negotiation, dialogue, give-and-take, consensus, and understanding is unfortunate.
'I personally do not consider walk-out a desirable element of democratic practice."
The South-South delegates had staged a walk-out at the tail end of the conference in protest against the approval of 17 percent as derivation formula instead of the 25 per cent demanded by them.
Obasanjo whose address centred on the NPRC report and the outcome of his administration's debt relief campaign, told the lawmakers that Nigerians were anxious to know what relevance the recommendations of the conference would be to national development.
The National Assembly, he said, was at liberty to see which part of the report could be adopted, adapted or used to improve the current constitution.
'Whatever issues you consider of relevance that will enhance the constitution; and whatever you consider relevant to existing or new legislation, I put the report before you for your necessary consideration and action," he said.
The President of the Senate and Chairman of the National Assembly, Chief Ken Nnamani and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari, received the report.
Obasanjo who also sought the assistance of the National Assembly in paying $6billion to the Paris Club before September, said the NPRC had provided Nigerians with another opportunity to build new bridges of tolerance, accommodation, dialogue, patriotism, and unity while strengthening old fabrics of association and relations.
The President said that the submission of the report to the National Assembly confirmed his earlier position that 'this Government had no hidden agenda beyond fostering the national good, promoting unity and harmony, and ensuring that we collectively discuss those issues that continue to mediate our path to unity, stability and progress."
He said the conference, in sum, 'was meant to bring together Nigerians from all walks of life, irrespective of regional, ethnic, religious, age, gender or class divisions and differentiations to deliberate on all issues affecting the development and progress of the country.
'Democracy is a process, not a destination and we must remain committed to that process.
'We must be democratic in our thinking, our utterances, our organisations and systems and our actions. We must set our hearts and minds on one ideal only - the best for Nigeria.
'Nigeria has come to stay and will surely outlive the backsliders who seem not to be able to work for the future but remain myopic, visionless, retrogressive and parochial.
'The truth is that Nigeria cannot be pulled down, we are, as a people moving forward, and we can only pray that agents of reaction and crises will realise that the country is greater than any of us and that unless we work for peace and progress today to assure the future, history and posterity will not forgive us."
On debt relief, Obasanjo expressed joy for the cooperation and collaboration provided by the National Assembly to the Executive arm of government.
He said of the total debt stock owed by Nigeria, the Federal Government owed 75 per cent and states, 25 per cent.
Indebtedness to Paris Club, according to him, was 83.16 per cent.
The balance is made up of multilateral and commercial debts.
He said political rascality, bad governance, bad leadership, abuse of office and power, corruption, mismanagement and waste were responsible for Nigeria's high debt profile.
The President added, 'Those that ran up the huge national debt are indeed a minority."
He sought the help of the National Assembly in clearing the arrears of $6billion of the $30billion owed the Paris Club following which there will be a stock reduction on Naples Terms.
The President who was accompanied to the National Assembly by some governors, ministers, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Ahmadu Alli, among others, hoped that this would represent, for the first time, 'a total exit, if you like, total freedom from Paris Club debt."
He said, 'Let me state, once more, for those who say we did not get any relief or that the terms were ambiguous, the debt relief for Nigeria is real.
'I can only say to those that doubted that we would ever get debt relief or those that felt that we were merely junketing around the world doing nothing; history and events have vindicated us.''
Shortly after Obasanjo's speech, the Senate President who presided over the session invited Masari to give a vote of thanks on behalf of the National Assembly.
In what appeared like a veiled reference to the subtle campaign for the extension of the President's tenure, Masari said the Assembly was prepared to back Obasanjo's programme till 2007.
'The zeal with which we started, God will give us the grace to support you and carry on to the end of our tenure in 2007," the Speaker said.
The comment by Masari elicited deafening ovation from the lawmakers and shouts of 'no extension of tenure" from many lawmakers.
The former Chairman, House Committee on Media and Publicity, Mrs. Abike Dabiri, noted that all elected public officers had a four-year mandate with the people that elected them.
'We have heard it (extension of tenure). But we have a four-year mandate with the people who voted us in. And as the Speaker has said, we will leave by 2007."
Last Thursday, debate on the extension of Obasanjo's tenure beyond 2007, divided members of the House, with some supporting the move provided that it would also affect them.
The six year single term tenure, which Federal Government's nominees at the NPRC lobbied for, formed part of a minority report of the conference.
Worried by the interest of members on the extension of tenure, a group in the House, Forum for Democracy and Good Governance, chaired by Dr. Usman Bugaji, held a meeting last week to discuss the issue on how the forum would react to the issue, when formal debate on it begins.
Before Obasanjo and Masari spoke, Nnamani said that the gains of the $18billion debt relief could be frittered away if fiscal indiscipline and corruption continued in the country.
He therefore advised Obasanjo to redouble his effort in the crusade against corruption and improving the economy.
The PUNCH, Wednesday, July 27, 2005