- Calls for state police, restructuring
- AGF Malami disagrees
By Banji Ayoola
Chairman of South West Governors and Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has bemoaned the worsening insecurity across the country, warning that the situation may force Nigerians to resort to self help and arm themselves.
He gave the warning in his keynote address at the meeting of the nation’s 36 States’ Attorneys-General at Continental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Thursday, 11 days after gunmen stormed a Catholic church in his Owo home town, killed at least 40 worshipers and wounded many others.
No arrest has been made over the Sunday June 5 incident for which all the other states in the South West Region unanimously declared a three-day mourning in solidarity with their sixth sister state that has been mourning since the horror.
It was also attended by Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN; and members of the Bar and the Bench, among other dignitaries.
The Attorneys-General are meeting for three days to discuss critical legal issues relating to the $418 million Paris Club Refunds, Value Added Tax (VAT), stamp duty, and amendments to the 1999 Constitution.
Others in attendance were Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State; and Simon Lalong (Plateau); Lagos State Chief Judge, Justice Kazeem Alogba; Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President Olumide Akpata; and Director-General of the Nigerian Governor’s Forum, Asishana Okauru, among others.
Pointedly, Akeredolu, who noted that the police have been overwhelmed, warned the Federal Government that its alleged inability to secure life and property in the country would soon leave citizens with no choice but to arm themselves in self-defence.
Particularly on the Owo church killings, he lamented that the police blamed the non-availability of vehicles for their inability to mobilise to the scene of the attack.
According to him, the mass killings, kidnappings and other serious security failures around the country had shown that a central police command was ineffective to keep Nigerians safe.
He insisted that the police have failed in their constitutional role of protecting Nigerians, and asked them to “close shop” if the Federal Government could not meet their equipment needs.
The governor described state police and restructuring of the country into a true and balanced federation from the prevailing status quo, skewed in favour of a few cabals and against the majority of the composite ethnic groups, as imperative to building a new Nigeria where no one is oppressed.
Akeredolu said: “The current spate of insecurity in the country leaves us with no room for equivocation on the rights of the states to maintain law and order through the establishment of State Police. The growing distrust in the polity is a direct result of the disconnect between Federal Government and the constituent units of the country. The economic adversity currently experienced in the country points directly at the defective political structure.
“A unitary system cannot work, successfully, in a country like Nigeria. The 1999 Constitution has been amended twice. There is another promise of further amendments arising from the manifest irregularity in many provisions.
“This has compelled many lawyers and educated citizens to insist on having a new Constitution which will reflect the agitations of the various groups which make up the country. The law is becoming increasingly less certain under these circumstances.
“The crises created by the 1999 Constitution, as amended, have been unending. There have been agitations that the Exclusive Legislative List in this Constitution is limited to Nigeria’s external trade, customs duties, export duties, tax on incomes, profits and capital gains, interstate commerce, external borrowing, mining rents and royalties from mineral resources, among others.
“The Federal Government has, consistently, rejected this suggestion, presumably, because of the humongous 52 percent revenue allocation to it while the 36 States and the 774 Local Governments share the remaining 48 percent.”
He challenged states to restructure the country by, among others, setting up their anti-graft agencies.
The governor asked the Police to “close shop” if the Federal Government could not meet its equipment needs.
“The Police have failed”, Akeredolu said, adding that a central police command was ineffective in keeping Nigerians safe.
“The current spate of insecurity in the country leaves us with no room for equivocation on the right of the states to maintain law and order through the establishment of state police,” he said.
The governor added that he and his family believed in Nigeria, which was why he and his son married outside the Southwest.
He further challenged states to restructure the country by, among others, setting up their anti-graft agencies or Anti-Corruption Commission.
He argued that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was a creation of and for the Federal Government of Nigeria only and not for the Federation of 36 states.
Akeredolu, who urged states to emulate Lagos and push for restructuring via legal means, claimed that the Federal Government was getting way too much of the national income at the states’ and local governments’ expense.
He said: “The Federal Government getting 52 per cent of the country’s revenue allocation is the main cause of the problem. There are some funds at the federal level that they don’t know what to do with. And the states and local governments are being starved. This is a direct consequence of long military rule.”
The governor maintained that the 1999 Constitution, which he said was fraudulently imposed on the country by the military, cannot be the foundation for building a new Nigeria.
He condemned that legal framework as patching up an imbalanced, unjust, and unfair status quo which is skewed in favour of the narrow interest of a negligible few, but against the interests of the majority of the country’s composite ethnic groups.
He decried the over-centralisation of powers in the hands of the Federal Government and charged the federating units to challenge its excesses.
Maintaining that the 1963 Republican Constitution attested to ingenuity, originality and vision of Nigeria’s founding fathers, he said that this has been the only Constitution that represented the interest of the people.
He noted that the 1963 constitution was made truly by the representatives of the people who came together to enact a law on behalf of the Federation taking into account the fact of heterogeneity.
The Governor noted that the 1963 constitution was enough evidence of the intention of the divergent peoples brought together under the same political arrangement by colonial fiat, to act in unison to achieve a common destiny.
He stressed that the Constitution anticipated growth and ultimate development through cooperation borne out of the agreement of the various groups to remain in the union as one.
Noting that the country has been experimenting since the incursion of the military into politics in 1966, Akeredolu said that the promulgation of the Unification Decree of 1966 introduced a unitary system into the political arrangement of the country.
He said: “The military, displaying their characteristic opportunism, abolished the existing regional structure and replaced them with the so called provinces. They consolidated their hold on the polity by yet another promulgation, the Supremacy Decree of 1966 after the counter coup.
“Nigeria has been striving to recover from the debilitating effects of this disruption. All subsequent legislations, since this aberrant incursion, have followed the unitary pattern despite pretensions to some federalist intentions.”
Akeredolu said that he was reluctant to come to the event due to the June 5th terror attack in Owo which left 40 people dead and several others injured.
His words: “The happenings in Ondo State about a week and half ago, I can not run away from the fact that I have to be here with some reluctance because of the respect I have for this body and I have earlier accepted to be the key note speaker. If you don’t mind, I would like us to rise and observe a minute silence for the victims of the mindless attack in Owo on the 5th of June.”
The Governor further explained that the crises created by the 1999 Constitution, as amended, have been unending, adding that there have been agitations that the Exclusive Legislative List in the Constitution be limited to Nigeria’s external trade, customs duties, export duties, tax on incomes, profits and capital gains, interstate commerce, external borrowing, mining rents and royalties from mineral resources, among others.
According to him, the Federal Government has consistently rejected the suggestion, “presumably” because of the humongous 52% revenue allocation to it while the 36 States and the 774 Local Governments share the remaining 48%.
He said: “The 1999 Constitution has been amended twice. There is another promise of further amendments arising from the manifest irregularity in many provisions.
“This has compelled many lawyers and educated citizens to insist on having a new Constitution which will reflect the agitations of the various groups which make up the country. The law is becoming increasingly less certain under these circumstances.
“The federal system, purportedly provided for, by virtue of Section 1 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, is a legal ruse.”
According to him: “The 1963 Republican Constitution had 45 items on the Exclusive Legislative List. They are now 67 under the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
“Matters concerning elections of Governors and members of Houses of Assembly of States, pension and gratuities, police, prisons, airports, public holidays, labour and trade unions, Stamp Duties, among others, are included in the Exclusive Legislative List.
“It is high time we conducted a comprehensive review.
“”It is exciting to note that this meeting will be deliberating on important issues such as the claims of London/Paris Club Loan refund, Value Added Tax, proposed amendments to the 1999 Constitution, as amended, proposed amendments to the Stamp Duties Act, State Anti-Corruption Commission, which will focus on the case of the AG Federation vs. AG Lagos State instituted on the legality of enacting the Lagos State Public Complaint and Anti-Corruption Commission Law and the establishment of the Commission and current developments in the Administration of Justice in the 36 States of the Federation.”
In his address, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Justice Minister said state governors cannot continue to agitate for restructuring and state police when they are responsible for the compromise and mismanagement of the current system.
According to him, state governors, who have taken over the allocations of local governments in their states, have no moral right to ask for restructuring.
He said: “The present controversies surrounding the Paris/London Club loan refunds could have been avoided if the NGF/state governments and ALGON, who engaged the services of consultants and contractors honoured their agreements.
“NGF and ALGON have not denied engaging the consultants and contractors on behalf of their respective states and local governments.”
Malami disagreed with Akeredolu on restructuring of Nigeria. While the governor insisted on devolution of power in favour of states and councils, Malami criticised governors for controlling councils and turning around to ask for more powers.
He questioned governors’ moral authority to demand restructuring after usurping local government powers.
“If you have not done it (set up state anti-graft agencies) in your state, go and do it. Let the EFCC run after those who have infractions with the Federal Government, not states.
“We now use the EFCC to start pursuing even governors and you want to stay as if you are holier than everyone. You now use Federal Government agencies to oppress people in the states.
“So, go and promulgate your laws, establish your anti-graft agencies. We have done ours in Ondo State, or else EFCC will continue to pursue you. Is it only in states that they steal? I’m not saying you should be stealing,” Akeredolu said.
He accused governors of greed by coveting local government revenue and questioned the governors’ moral ground for their agitation for restructuring and state police in the face of this “compromise.”
The AGF wondered whether “a state governor that colonised the resources of a local government, that renders a local government inefficient and ineffective in the performance of its duties, security and otherwise has moral standing to now clamour and crave for restructuring against the backdrop of the inherent abuse associated with his conduct, with particular regard to the corporate existence of a state”.
He added: “A further question is whether a state governor that undermines the democratic process, that refuses to inaugurate members of the state house of assembly that were elected equally stands a moral ground to clamour for restructuring against the backdrop of the fact that he does not believe in allowing the system to effectively and efficiently operate?”
He also advised the AGs of respective states to perish the idea of establishing a body known as the ‘Body of Attorneys-General of the Federation.’
Malami said the name runs contrary to Section 150(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which established his office as the only AGF.
He said: “I have also observed the misnomer in the proposed name of the new body which you seek to float, that is, Body of Attorneys-General of the Federation.
“It is my considered view that this name conflicts with Section 150(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which established only one office of the Attorney General of the Federation.”
The AGF reacted to the controversial issue of the $418million Paris/London Club loan deductions and refunds which has pitted the states against the Federal Government.
According to him, he had always held the position that the governors were attempting to draw back on the terms of an agreement reached with relevant stakeholders.
Malami maintained that the respective AGs and their governors should have adopted an out-of-court settlement rather than opting for a prolonged legal battle on an agreement they reached on behalf of their states.
He said that governors cannot continue to agitate for restructuring and state police when they are responsible for the compromise and mismanagement of the current system.
Also, he stated that “State police will not work because state governors would abuse it, look at the way they treat local government, imagine what will happen if they control the police.“
The AGF advised the governors to utilise the existing structures through the National Assembly to press on with their demands for restructuring and other constitutional amendments.
Earlier, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr Olumide Apata and the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Moyosore Onigbanjo, applauded Governor Akeredolu for being the rare gift of the Bar to good governance.
In his own speech, Sanwo-Olu emphasised the importance of the office of the AG and encouraged the gathering to find legal ways to improve the federal-state relationship.
He said: “You know too well that in the Constitution it is only the Attorney-General that the constitution says you should appoint.
“Once you have the Attorney-General with you, you don’t even need commissioners or special advisers again. So that goes to explain how important and how critical your roles are for us.”
Also, Lalong, who was represented by Plateau State AG, Chris Ahmadu, narrowed down the issues.
He said: “The issue of Value Added Tax should have been straightforward. As lawyers we know it’s not in the Exclusive Legislative List.”
“So, how do we come to an arrangement where the states and the Federal Government will equally partake for the good of all?” he queried.
