• Urge FG to form multi-party committee on implementation

Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa

Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has commended the ruling All Progressive Congress APC, on its far reaching recommendations on the issue of the proposed restructuring of the country, adding that it had further strengthened the agitations for true federalism and resource control in the Niger Delta.

Also, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide, yesterday demanded expeditious action on the Governor Nasir el-Rufai report on restructuring presented to the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday.

While calling on the APC to be sincere with the implementation of the recommendations, Dickson said restructuring Nigeria would calm frayed nerves and strengthen the nation’s unity.

However, the Governor called on the leadership of the APC to ensure implementation of the recommendations of its committee on restructuring before the conduct of the 2019 General elections.

According to him, implementing the report before 2019 general elections was the true test of the sincerity of the APC on the issue of the recommendations.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Media Relations, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, said the Governor made the comment in an interview with journalists on the recommendations of the APC’s Committee on Restructuring led by Governor Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State in Abuja on Friday.

The El Rufai Committee had recommended state ownership of onshore mineral resources including oil, state control of police, prisons among others while presenting its report to the leadership of the APC on Thursday.

Dickson said that he had to commend the APC for the recommendations on restructuring which he said came from an unexpected quarters some of whose leaders had opposed the calls to restructure the country.

The Governor said that what the APC committee did in its recommendations were the most fundamental of all the approaches to the burning issue of restructuring in the best interest of the country.

He stressed that as a politician driven by conviction, he had to commend the APC on its bold recommendations on restructuring because it was right and worthy of appreciation.

He said, “This development came from an unexpected quarters in a matter that is dear to us; the subject matter of restructuring to address the inequalities in our country. Yesterday, El Rufai, who chairs the APC Committee, submitted the report; While it is true that we are dealing with a proposal, this is coming from an unexpected quarters, and in the light of the opposition to structuring from some leaders, I thought that what the APC did was unexpected.

“Let me start by commending the committee and the leadership of that party for making what I will call the most fundamental proposal dealing with the issue of restructuring. This is very refreshing, and for me, when I see what is right, I commend it; when I see what is in the best interest of our country, I commend it because my politics is driven by conviction, not convenience.

“With the kind of proposals that they have done, I thought I should appreciate their patriotism and commitment to building an equitable and prosperous Nigeria”.

Dickson further called for the establishment of a multiparty committee to work out the final details for the executive arm to sponsor a bill to the National Assembly.

He stressed that there was need to mobilise national consensus to engage the National Assembly in order to ensure the implementation of the core raised in the report before 2019 general elections.

“I want to say that at this time, if we are all sincere about the injustices, and inequities, then I call for a multiparty committee to deal with the final details of the issues, the issue of the police, the judiciary, the control of land. We need a multi-party committee to discuss and agree and work on draft legislation bills that will be jointly sponsored at the NAS.

“ALL of us need to mobilise national consensus to engage the National Assembly. So that we can drive all these issues, before the next election. That is the test of sincerity”, he said.

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On the same report, the IYC maintained that it was not enough to submit the report and allow it gather dust, noting that the challenge in the country was in the implementation of such reports and not necessarily in the documentation.

“Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide states that while the APC committee on restructuring recommendation on devolution of power including empowering states to have legislative control over mining and oil minerals is a welcome development, the APC-led federal government should go further to take immediate steps to implement the recommendation.

“It is not enough for the APC committee on restructuring to recommend for some level of resource control by the states; since the APC is in government at the centre and majority of the states.

“It should take the further steps to ensure immediate implementation of the recommendations, especially that on control of mines and oil minerals by states of the federation which has been a key demand of the Niger Delta people”, the group noted.

Factional President of the IYC, Mr. Eric Omare, a lawyer, in a statement in Yenagoa, argued that it was only when the recommendations of the committee were implemented that Nigerians and especially Niger Deltans would take the APC position on restructuring seriously.

He recalled that the APC had promised restructuring prior to the 2015 elections, only to deny knowledge of the true meaning of the concept after winning the general elections.

He added: “hence, for the APC to be taken seriously on the issue of restructuring, the IYC calls on the APC led federal government to immediately initiate the process of amending the relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution, the Petroleum Act.

“The Land Use Act, the Minerals and Mining Act, the Petroleum Profit Tax Act and other relevant laws as recommended by the committee to bring the recommendations into reality”.

IYC, he said, strongly believed that if the APC had the political will, this could be easily done because the party has majority both at the National Assembly and majority of the state houses of assembly to effect immediate amendment of the constitution and relevant laws.

“Anything short of immediate legislative action to implement the recommendations especially on resource control would be regarded as mere political rhetoric to get the support of Nigerians in the 2019 elections”, the youth group said.

http://www.mcebisco.com.ng/2018/01/bayelsa-governor-iyc-hail-apc.html