MR MIKE Igini, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Cross River State, in this interview reels out steps to ensure the implementation of the just concluded National Conference report among other issues. Excerpts:

By Dapo Akinrefon

The national conference despite initial fears that it would not go far  has come to an end, what is your assessment?
My assessment is that against many odds, it went well. The odds against it were the polarized national political discourse prior to the convocation of the conference and the consequential disputes.

Yet, despite these polar political positions, the conferees, including nominees of all state governments were able to attain consensus on many important issues, and surprisingly accepted to defer to the most contentious issues by temporizing decisions on it to a more technically structured decision making body.
At the end of the conference, it is a fitting tribute to the capacity of Nigerians to overcome their differences in the very congenial way the conference ended.

Barrister Mike Igini

There are divergent opinions on whether the draft outcome  should be subjected to a referendum or not and whether it should be sent to the National Assembly.   What is your view on this?
In order to strengthen the legitimacy of the process and reducing what in constitutional parlance is referred to as the propensity for self-dealing, it should by subjecting the draft document to a referendum.

As a principal part of the process, we cannot dispense with the legislature in legitimating the process but in this regard the legislature should be mindful that whatever role they play in legitimating the document they should look beyond their immediate comforts and sacrifice for future Nigerian children that we may never know or see, but whose future welfare as compatriots, living at peace with one another, depends on the foundation that this document will lay.

But we cannot wholly dispense with the legislature in its legitimation process because as the principal stakeholders in the implementation of the constitution, we must allow them ample space for a buy-in to the new republic.

There are few people who still argue over the legitimacy of the conference on the grounds of the absence of an enabling law and the non-election of the delegates.
There are no trans-national standards for the convocation of a conference of a people to determine the charter of their coexistence.  Interestingly, in our own case here, the delegates were in fact nominated by an elected president and Governors of the 36 states and so what other form of legitimate authority are we talking about beyond the authority of elected people who delegated part of their authority to nominated delegates?

So contextual adaptation and the intent by people to succeed and coexist peacefully is the key factor. Again, on this legitimacy question, bear in mind that apart from nomination from elected constituted authorities at federal and state levels,   many of them were representatives of established statutory, academic,   and civil society bodies, which have passed through election processes in such bodies.

Therefore, the constitutional adaptations of the resolutions must be seen from two dimensions, the spirit of the document which is the intent of the delegates and the letters of the document which are the commitment of the delegates and eventually all stakeholders to the goals and ideals which the letters aspire to.
We must learn to embrace the letters and spirit of the commitments which the resolution obligates in our words and in our actions, they must become a creed.

Confab members

Which are the specific areas of success of the confab that you consider significant in strengthening our federalism towards rapid development?
Some significant areas of successes include the proposal to remove the immunity from prosecution for criminal offences for executive public office holders.
This is progressive because our practical experience has shown that many office holders did not display the maturity required to enjoy such immunity, instead they turned it to impunity, and impunity; the lack of consequences for wrong doing is the number one enemy of Nigeria’s progress.

Nonetheless, the removal of the clause in this context was instigated by the failure of the legislature to act as effective checks without necessarily acting as obstructionist to governance, necessitating a judicial re-enforcement.

Other important landmark innovations include the resolution on de-listing   local governments from the constitution and making this tier of governance purely matters for states,   with the liberty to create as many as they desire as long as they can fund them. There is also the resolution on the formation of a revenue mobilization Commission at state level, but this should be empowered by ensuring express fiscal autonomy clause on   revenue generation authorities for local governments to the extent that will make them viable.

I am particularly enthused by any administrative mechanism that empowers governance at the local governments, enlightened state governments will expend a lot of energy to ensure devolution and effectiveness at this level, because it frees the upper levels of governance from expending too much time and resources on small development efforts that are better   done from the local wards, that way state and federal governments can free material resources and time to do bigger enabling things.