Northern Delegates Make Stand Known at National Conference

Northern delegates to the on-going National Conference yesterday revealed what they termed the stand of the North in dialogue.

Their position was contained in a paper made available to members of the conference and the media tagged, “Key Issues before the Northern Delegates to the National Conference; Northern Nigeria the Back Bone and Strength of Nigeria”. The delegates said unless 1999 Constitution is amended to take away the ownership of mineral resources from the federal government, total resource control by any Nigerian state would amount to a breach of the covenants of the federation.

Accordingly, they recommended a reduction of the derivation formula which should be applied to oil produced solely onshore, from 13 per cent to five per cent, as well as the scrapping of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Ministry of Niger Delta and the Amnesty Programme for ex-Niger Delta militants.

They also said that the northern delegates said the agitation for resource control by a section of the country was akin to attempts to pull out of the Nigerian federation, explaining that all regions in the country are equal stakeholders and owners of the country’s mineral resources, including its hydrocarbon resources.