₦airaland Forum

DRAFT BILL FOR A REFERENDUM LAW



A Law of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Ogun State House of Assembly, Osun State House of Assembly, Oyo State House of Assembly, Ondo State House of Assembly and Lagos State House of Assembly for the holding of a Referendum on the proposal to Federate Ekiti State with Ogun State, Osun State, Oyo State, Ondo State and Lagos State and constitute same into Oduduwa Region of Western Nigeria, within the Federation of Nigeria.



A: REFERENDUM ON FEDERATION OF EKITI STATE WITH OGUN STATE, OSUN STATE, OYO STATE, ONDO STATE AND LAGOS STATE AND CONSTITUTION OF SAME INTO ODUDUWA REGION IN A FEDERATION OF NIGERIA.

1. On the 8th Day of August 2019, a Referendum shall be held in Ekiti State, Ogun State, Osun State, Oyo State, Ondo State and Lagos State of Nigeria on:

(i) Whether the Governments of Ekiti, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Ondo and Lagos States should negotiate with each other with a view to forming a FEDERATION of STATES to be known as the ODUDUWA REGION OF WESTERN NIGERIA and (ii) whether the said REGION should negotiate with the Government of Nigeria and the remaining 30 states or any group of states that have also agreed to Federate and the administration of the Federal Capital Territory to achieve AUTONOMY/SELF-DETERMINATIONfor the said REGION within a Federation of Nigerian Constituent Units.(ANNEXURE)

2. The questions or propositions to be voted on in the Referendum and form of the ballot paper to be used for that purpose are to be in the form set out in the schedule herein contained.

3. Those entitled to vote in the Referendum are the persons who, on the date of the Referendum, would be entitled to vote as electors at a local government election in the electoral area/ward of the State in which they reside and/or carry out business.

4. The Governor of Each State shall appoint a Chief Electoral Officer who shall appoint an electoral officer for each Local Government Area.

5. Each Local Government Electoral Officer shall (a) Conduct the counting of votes cast in the area under his/her authority in accordance with any directions given by the Chief Electoral Officer and (b) Certify the number of ballot papers counted by him/her and the number of votes cast for each question/proposition.

6. The Chief Electoral Officer must certify:

(a) The total number of ballot papers counted for the whole of Each State and (b) the total number of votes cast for each proposition/question for the whole of the State.

7. The result of the Referendum shall constitute the entire position of the people of Ogun State, Oyo State, Osun State, Ekiti State, Ondo State and Lagos State (WESTERN/ODUDUWA REGION OF NIGERIA).

8. In the event of a YES vote on the Referendum, the Governors of each State shall appoint members into aConstitutional Council of Western/Oduduwa Region.

9. The Constitutional Council of Western/Oduduwa Region shall include not more than twelve (12) other members chosen at random throughout the Region and four (4) members from Kwara and Kogi States.

10.The Constitutional Council of Western/Oduduwa Region shall be vested with powers to present and represent the views of Western/Oduduwa Region and negotiate on behalf of the Western/Oduduwa Region with all the agencies of the Nigerian Government and non-Governmental organizations involved in the process.





B: The short title of this Law is “Referendum Law of Ekiti State, Ondo State, Osun State, Oyo State, Ogun State and Lagos State”.



SCHEDULE



FORM OF BALLOT PAPER: Ekiti State House of Assembly, Ondo State House of Assembly, Osun State House of Assembly, Oyo State House of Assembly, Ogun State House of Assembly and Lagos State House of Assembly, have decided to consult the People of Each State on this 8th Day of August, 2019 on the proposal to Federate the Government of Ogun State, the Government of Osun State, the Government of Oyo State, the Government of Ekiti State, the Government of Ondo State and the Government of Lagos State with a view to constituting a REGION of Western Nigeria within a Federation of Nigeria.



THUMBPRINT in the box containing: (YES)

1. I AGREE that the Governments of Ekiti State, Ondo State, Oyo State, Osun State, Ogun State and Lagos State should negotiate with each other with a view to forming a FEDERATION of STATES to be known as the ODUDUWA REGION OF WESTERN NIGERIA which shall negotiate with the Yoruba persons in Kwara and Kogi States, whether they want to be part of the ODUDUWA REGION or not; shall further negotiate with the Government of Nigeria and the remaining 30 states and the administration of the Federal Capital Territory to achieve AUTONOMY/SELF-DETERMINATION for the said REGION within a Federation of Nigeria.



OR

(NO)

2. I DO NOT AGREE that the Governments of Ekiti State, Ondo State, Oyo State, Osun State, Ogun State and Lagos State should negotiate with each other with a view to forming a FEDERATION of STATES to be known as the ODUDUWA REGION OF WESTERN NIGERIA which shall negotiate with the Yoruba in Kwara and Kogi States as to whether they want to be part of the ODUDUWA REGION or not, and further negotiate with the Government of Nigeria and the remaining 30 states and the administration of the Federal Capital Territory to achieve AUTONOMY/SELF-DETERMINATION for the said REGION within a Federation of Nigeria.

Source

https://www./549890931861236/permalink/1150982201752103/

This is a brilliant ideal of asking for autonomy .
We don't need verbal war or making enemies to achieve our aims, all we need is diplomacy

Very supportive ideas best regional integration plan oduduwa a gbe wa o

I'm loving this, a welcome idea but on the other hand critical deco at this seem Yoruba are preparing for eventual collapse of Nigeria.

As a core Biafran. I wish you well and speedy integration. I hope you will say same of mine.

i support this

Oba of Benin is among descendants kings of oduduwa....he should be included and also Yoruba speaking part of kogi and kwara states. It's a gud idea

Welldone my people. This is Wisdom.

Good move.
Hope it won't be sabotaged from enemies within

The Dawn Commission Launches a Self Determination department just yesterday and now reading this exciting news today.

it's just a matter of time for fatherland to have its freedom and the time is fast approaching

Edumare bless Yorubaland

comradewanle:
Oba of Benin is among descendants kings of oduduwa....he should be included and also Yoruba speaking part of kogi and kwara states. It's a gud idea

one step at a time
if the electorates vote in favour of Autonomy I believe the goodwill will be extended southwards after which the people around that axis will decide to re-unite with western Nigeria or not as it is already planned in the case of Yoruba part of Kwara and Kogi

I didn't read down but the subject line and introduction is very good to me. That's the way to go. The present structure would never lead us anywhere. And the earlier we start tinkering with the present then there are chances we would get the right formula to move Nigeria forward.

Are you sure this is true or someone somewhere just fabricate it ?

Let see how it goes.

Good luck omoluabis

zeromeridian:
As a core Biafran. I wish you well and speedy integration. I hope you will say same of mine.

We wish the Biafrans the success and victory you seek in your own struggle.

The Nigerian constitution has solved this issue, anyone trying to form any thing outside the constitution shall be met with war. No back door referendum. This is a mere empty threat to force the country to hand power to the South West, we are ready for una, make una try am, we from the South South Na dmiddle belt will join hands with the Fulanis you people foist on us to decimate you people. If they dont carry out this so called agreements shame on you all. Shey Osibanjo said no need for demand for federalism or restructuring? Pay back time.

ledamaster:
The Nigerian constitution has solved thisbissue, anyone trying to form any thing outside the constitution shall be met with war. No back door referendum. This is a mere empty threat to force the country to hand power to the South West, we are ready for una, make una try am, we from.the South South Na dmiddle belt will join hands with the Fulanis you people foist on us to decimate you people. If they dont carry out this so called agreements shame on you all.

Must you comment/respond to every thread you read online?

ledamaster:
The Nigerian constitution has solved thisbissue, anyone trying to form any thing outside the constitution shall be met with war. No back door referendum. This is a mere empty threat to force the country to hand power to the South West, we are ready for una, make una try am, we from.the South South Na dmiddle belt will join hands with the Fulanis you people foist on us to decimate you people. If they dont carry out this so called agreements shame on you all.

good u didnt mention the south east. We igbos are in full support of this...it is a step in the right direction to break up this country and alow ethnic nationalities to forge their own future.

I and other Biafrans wish the south west goodluck on this. But as far as Nigeria remains one, we igbos will not be voting a yoruba candidate again in any election. Its ok if the yorubas say the same about us too.

Shallom

So there will only south west and lagos

Yorubas who will be the first to attack IPOB and Kanu online for calling for a separate state?

Yorubas who think that Ojukwu was a fool for fighting for the freedom of his people?

Yorubas who constantly twist historical facts to denigrate the right of Igbos to self determination?


The only thing Yorubas are good for is to make the occasional noise about restructuring and fight for either the presidential or vice-presidential position of Nigeria 

But as regards fighting for an independent home land, Yorubas are simply not yet that enlightened. They can never produce and Ojukwu 

They will make the usual noise and that will be that

ledamaster:
The Nigerian constitution has solved thisbissue, anyone trying to form any thing outside the constitution shall be met with war. No back door referendum. This is a mere empty threat to force the country to hand power to the South West, we are ready for una, make una try am, we from.the South South Na dmiddle belt will join hands with the Fulanis you people foist on us to decimate you people. If they dont carry out this so called agreements shame on you all.

You missed key points outlined in the article. Those who are first to run to constitution for support usually are ignorant of the guidelines in the constitution.

The first key point in the article is style - Federation.
The second key point is jurisdiction - "within the Federation of Nigeria"
The third key point is the label - Oduduwa Region of Western Nigeria.

Please see the attached, the proposal in the article is very well within the law and is even supported by the constitution. Of course not without some roadblocks....but it's the best of any other proposals out there calling for restructuring.

Here is the preamble to the Draft posted by OP... It is important to have the full picture.

Egbe Omo Oduduwa: Time for A Referendum Law in Yorubaland
By Egbe Omo Oduduwa

WHEREAS:
1. Federalism, a union of two or more entities, reflects a relationship between the “national” (center) and the “sub-national” (Regional) entities. Ignoring Geo-political Restructuring as the primary factor in Federalism in a multi-National, multi-Lingual and multi-Cultural society like Nigeria is to deny prospects of combined and even development, the absence of which is the root cause of her underdevelopment.

2. Assuming the singularity of the Geo-Political space called Nigeria as an inviolable fact of her existence, all the solutions to its problems are relegated to maintaining that singularity while turning issues of Federalism into an administrative convenience even when it is obvious that the problem is exactly in that singularity.

3. “States”, as we have them in Nigeria, with or without their own Police Forces, are administrative entities, which were not even created by the residents but by military fiat: the Aguiyi-Ironsi regime forcibly replaced the previously agreed Regions with “Groups of Provinces”; Yakubu Gowon’s 12-State Geo-Political Structure aimed at the then impending war; Murtala Muhammed’s 19 States to Ibrahim Babangida’s 21 States and now Sanni Abacha’s 36-State Structure are mere Administrative categories but which were summarily deemed to be the Federating Units, making them an aberration upon which the Nigerian problematic rest.

4. Compounding the aberration is the introduction of a “third tier”, the Local Government, ostensibly aimed at “reforming” Local Governance but ending up as the anchor towards further centralization and sealed with a military Constitution which made the “sub-national” completely dependent on “allocations” from this center for its existence, the cumulative, negative effect of which fertilized the ground for calls for Restructuring, hence all the Amendments to the Constitution can only sustain this aberration of Federalism.

5. Contiguity of Administrative Units, regardless of the nomenclature, cannot be an issue, more so when there is no territorial limitation as to the extent of the contiguity thereby making all the current 36 States contiguous thus introducing another form of homogeneity through the backdoor. To have a territorial limitation must involve other criteria, principal of which is the Peoples and therefore cultural thus rendering the concept of these “states” as Federating Units null.

6. Good governance cannot therefore be exhibited in the sense that the consciousness of itself as an entity is determined by its relationship with the center and not by the existential realities of its inhabitants; its sustenance is determined by the “national”, hence its emoluments and remunerations are not conditioned by its political, cultural and economic reality; its political economy is bereft of any economic philosophy derived from its existential prerogatives; its lingual-cultural development, a sine-qua-non for the Peoples’ emergence from colonialism, is stunted or completely ignored; the Peoples in these “states” thus became onlookers in their own history, having suffered foreign colonial subjugation and now represented by its “local” version.

7. Any Administration can point to its “achievements” under any circumstances, hence comparative analysis of different administrations within the same political-economic matrix cannot be turned into the benchmark for an overall economic philosophy addressing the uneven development of a post-colonial society; unless such comparison aims at instituting its own social, political and economic paradigm as the standard.

8. References to the economic and cultural development of the Regions in the First Republic is an indication of Nigeria’s potentials, where, specifically for the Western Region, her developmental paradigm was not simply a question of a series of policy formulations by benevolent leaders but an ideological (and philosophical) orientation aimed at negating colonial economy where “freedom for all, life more abundant” became manifested through the combined and even development of the Western Region via education, industrialization and human capital development; the pursuit of Political Autonomy for other Peoples of Nigeria through advocacy for more Regions and a vision of foreign policy anchored on less dependence on colonial military imperatives, as in the rejection of the Anglo-Nigeria Defense Pact, unlike the present circumstances where further ingratiation into global liberal political economy is the only route being pursued, despite warnings to the contrary, even from the custodians of that economic order.

9. The problematic is therefore not in the comparison, but in the realities of the political economy as to whether it can address social, economic, political and cultural underdevelopment based on its own stated parameters, bringing forth the question of the possibility of “economic development” within a dysfunctional political system, despite spirited efforts in that direction.

10. The Western Region developmental model, the product of the Political Autonomy resulting from the pursuit of Federalism as the true form of Geo-Political Architecture of the emerging post-colonial State, went through a period of systematic destruction of all its economic and human capital indices thereby rendering null the proposition of a viable, sustainable, social and economic development without Geo-Political Autonomy. Its component, Fiscal Federalism, by definition, reflects this Geo-Political necessity, otherwise, there would be no need to equate fiscal relations between the “national” and “sub-national” with Federalism.

11. All of these cannot be resolved through a series of Amendments to the Constitution as this will render the Constitution irrelevant since issues will always crop up demanding one amendment or the other. And if a decision is made creating a time-frame for any future amendment, it becomes a victim of political somersaults, especially when the “sub-national” has become completely dependent on the “national” thereby making it susceptible to whatever interests the “national” is pursuing. The Constitution would therefore have failed in its primary role and function as the Grundnorm, the Fundamental Law of the society.

12. Restructuring, therefore, is about the Peoples in their cultural and existential self-conception(s)and expressions. Expecting the same central leviathan to dismantle itself from above without the self-activity of the Peoples of the Constituent units is an exercise in futility. The discourse on and advocacy for the Federalist reconstitution of Nigeria must therefore be put in the context of political revolution by which the Peoples of the Nationalities push for and assert their right to Self-determination. The peaceful and most practical way towards attaining this goal is for each of the Nationalities in Nigeria to organize and hold a Referendum within the Nationality/Constituent Unit as the first step.

Therefore, for the Yoruba Nation, the following Bill for a Referendum Law is to be submitted to the Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti Houses of Assembly, through their Speakers, for appropriate action with copies to the Governors in these States as well as the Yoruba Obas, representing the Yoruba People in Kwara and Kogi States.

A smart way to develop their land/people without giving the unproductive “cow herder” an excuse to launch any sort of “reptilian dance” there. On the other side, Mazi Nnamdi succeeded in whipping his people into a frenzy and achieved next to nothing! All talk, with a whole lot of chest beating and no progress. Running on the spot and screaming to ur followers “we’ll soon get there” without moving an inch! Scamming ur people of their hard earned money! Mtchew!!

Your elders tried fighting before and didn’t succeed, it’s only a madman that will do the same thing over n over again & expect a different result each time!

olisaEze:
A smart way to develop their land/people without giving the unproductive “cow herder” an excuse to launch any sort of “reptilian dance” there. On the other side, Mazi Nnamdi succeeded in whipping his people into a frenzy and achieved next to nothing! All talk, with a whole lot of chest beating and no progress. Running on the spot and screaming to ur followers “we’ll soon get there” without moving an inch! Scamming ur people of their hard earned money! Mtchew!!

Your elders tried fighting before and didn’t succeed, it’s only a madman that will do the same thing over n over again & expect a different result each time!

atleast they had the balls to do what is right. unlike you hypocrites. all this puffing and huffing is all about 2023,, why disnt you ask for it until now? Hehehe the Power shall remain in the Fulani north hands, any attempt to break or spoil the way the country is structured shall be met with consequencies melted on the Biafrans. No amount of rebelion shall be tolerated.

Nnamdi kanu has shown that it's possible to divide this country without war
It is a goodnews for us biafrans that the west has woken up . I counsel that we join forces together with middle belt and push the fulanis away period