A National Conference delegate, Annkio Briggs, on Tuesday disclosed that the National Conference committee deliberating on issues including resource control, system of government and revenue sharing had hit a bottleneck in its proceedings.

While speaking on a number of issues being discussed at the National Conference, on Sunrise Daily, Briggs said: “We are stuck in certain critical areas. There is yet to be willingness to compromise by either the Northerners or Southerners”.

Briggs, who decried the inability of the Committee to reach a consensus, stressed the need for delegates and all stakeholders to make sacrifices for the greater good of the nation.

She disclosed that the committee had started the review of the legislative list of the tiers of government, but that talks about resource control were being met with resistance from the Northerners. She also mentioned the issue of State Police, which she said should be considered.

“If people want State Police, we should have it regulated in a way that the rights of people are not abused, while they are exercising their right to State Police.”

Briggs also cited example of the Sharia Law which was being practiced in some parts of the country and said that the States that want State Police should be granted their wish according to the Federal Law. She further called for the adoption of true fiscal federalism which would allow the different components of the country develop at different paces.

She mentioned that the committee was yet to agree on the adoption of fiscal federalism which would indirectly deal with issues concerning revenue sharing and others. There was also no consensus on the issue of States having access to resources and so it was adjourned on Monday and will be attended to again on Tuesday.

“Everything outside fiscal federalism will not work,” she said.

She further disclosed that the North wants the South-South to forfeit the Amnesty programme, Ministry of Niger Delta and NDDC in exchange for revenue sharing.

“We all understand that there is a very critical need for us to begin to find ways forward” she said, maintaining that sacrifices would have to be made.

“Over 50 years of the oil and gas resources being used, we really cannot count ourselves amongst manufacturing countries; we cannot count ourselves among the powerful economies (that we should be).

“We count ourselves among the poor; we count ourselves among the corrupt, we count ourselves among countries that don’t tell themselves the truth.

“All of these things must change if we are going to survive as a country,” she said.