Nat’l Conference: Derivation Has Been Settled 12 Years Ago – Clarke

A Legal Practitioner, Robert Clarke, is not surprised that his earlier statement that the National Conference was not going to have a successful end because … Continue reading Nat’l Conference: Derivation Has Been Settled 12 Years Ago – Clarke


Robert Clarke-SunriseA Legal Practitioner, Robert Clarke, is not surprised that his earlier statement that the National Conference was not going to have a successful end because there was no legal basis upon which to put their recommendations into constitutional effect has not been proven wrong.

He, however, expressed shock that despite President Jonathan making it clear that “the only no-go area was that Nigeria should not be divided” and the expectations were that Nigeria had been given the opportunity to have a new system of governance, the delegates failed to work towards a new constitution, which was the most important need for the country to move forward.

Speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, he aligned with the view that all that the National Conference had done for its four months of deliberations was to amend the already existing 1999 Constitution, an act already being performed by the National Assembly.

He stated that they have bordered on the issue of derivation, which should have been the least problem because of their different approach, as he revealed that “the question of derivation has been settled well over 12 years ago by the Supreme Court judgment” adding that “the present Chairman of the Conference was one of the judges who wrote one of the leading judgements.”

Explaining the factors that determine the ownership of resources, based on the International Conference on International Law that was held in the 1970s and which created “a new maritime economic zone”, he revealed that “from 1991 Nigeria started looking for petroleum products from the deep sea and today 55% of the oil Nigeria owns comes from the deep sea.”

He submitted that the judgement in the 2002 court case between the Attorney-General of the Federation and the 36 states of the federation on their joint ownership of the resources is what answers the question of derivation.

“Any state that has resources within its geographical borders should be entitled to it. All states that have boundaries and are producing oil within Nigeria should be allowed to take everything that comes out of it but they should pay royalty and pay tax to the Federal Government.

“If that is done there would be no problem of 13% or 15%”, he said.

Citing the American state of California, which has been adjudged to be the 5th largest economy in the world, he noted that this was possible because the state was allowed to develop its own resources despite being within another sovereign state.

He also noted that the restructuring involved letting the average Niger-Delta people know that all the oil in the country does not belong to them. There was need, according to him, for Nigerians to be aware that only 40% comes from the south-south, the rest comes from the deep sea, which they all have rights to.

The veteran lawyer went down memory lane to explain how the deregulation of the oil and gas sector would make Nigeria’s economy better. He cited the revolutions initiated by former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida, in the media, telecom and other sectors as those that should be replicated in the oil and gas sector.

He expressed the view that President Jonathan must have had good intentions for convening the National Conference and his declaration that Nigeria’s unity was non-negotiable was an opportunity to rebuild the country but there seemed to be sabotage.

Clarke maintained that he knew from the beginning that nothing was going to come out of the National Conference as the signs were obvious from the representation of some geopolitical zones.

Adamawa Illegality

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria expressed more regrets on the National Conference’s alleged failure to give Nigeria a brand new constitution but ended up offering an amendment of the same constitution which he said was Nigeria’s main problem.

He referred to the crisis that led to the impeachment of Adamawa State’s Governor Nyako and the activities of the Acting Governor since assuming office as evidences of how faulty the Nigerian Constitution was.

He alleged that the former House of Assembly Speaker, Umaru Fintiri, within one week of becoming the Acting Governor, paid out a sum of 120million Naira to each of the 24 lawmakers in the State House of Assembly and in addition all Local Government Chairmen in the state decamped back to the PDP.

He stated that this should not have been so if the constitution did not allow such financial and political liberty, maintaining that the Nigerian Constitution has given too much power to state governors and the President.

Speaking further on the Adamawa impeachment, Mr Clarke provided legal explanations to prove the illegality of the Speaker’s assumption of office and the circumstances surrounding the resignation of the Deputy Governor, whom he said should have become the Governor.