Delegates disagree over extension of confab

Delegates attending the ongoing National Conference in Abuja have disagreed over the extension of the three-month period stipulated for the exercise, SUNDAY PUNCH has learnt.

The delegates, since the inauguration of the conference by President Goodluck Jonathan on March 17,   have achieved very little, especially in terms of decisions and resolutions on nagging national issues.

The work plan of the conference shows that the list of members of committees proposed by its leadership ought to have been released on Thursday.

Also, the delegates have been unable to agree on the mode of voting.

While some of them want the conference to adopt the 75 per cent approval proposed by the President, others prefer two-thirds majority.

Going by its programme, the conference is to wind down on Thursday, June 10.

But some of the delegates are of the opinion that three months may not be enough for the work assigned to them.

A delegate and spokesperson for the Pro-National Conference Organisation, Mr. Wale Okuniyi, said  the three-month duration for the national conference was inadequate for thorough work on national issues by the delegates.

In a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, he stated that Nigeria remained a complex society with divergent issues that required very careful, meticulous and thorough consideration.

He suggested that nine months could be used for the conference even though he noted that PRONACO had earlier prescribed 18 months.

“We are going to do a surgery on the life of our nation. We have inherent diversities that are expansive and the animosity over time is deep-rooted. There is no way three months can be enough, but we should try and work towards it as a guide. I laughed when I saw the time duration. The Federal Government was quick to say it was tentative.”

Another delegate, who is also the President, Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, Mr. Richard Uche,  expressed doubts over completing assignments within the  stipulated time.

He said, “Given what has happened in the last two weeks, it is doubtful if this assignment can be completed within the period. Just to ratify the National Conference Procedure Rules 2014 cost us two weeks. We have to hurry a little if we are to meet that deadline.

“If we move a little faster, we can still catch up. But if we proceed at this rate, we will not be able to meet the deadline.”

Another delegate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, “Soon, we would meet with stakeholders at the conference and decide on how to handle the matter.

“If we used two weeks to read the drawing of a house, and we have not finished reading it, tell me, can that house be built in few weeks when we have many people claiming to be professionals?”

A Kano State delegate also, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, said there were signs that the conference might take a longer time.

“We have spent two weeks and we have yet to agree on the modalities of this conference. You can bet that when certain issues are raised, there is going to be rancour,” he said.

A delegate from Delta State, Mr. Paul Enebeli, however disagreed.

He said, “It is too early to contemplate that we won’t finish in three months. We will soon begin to understand one another. It is critical to get the rules right from the beginning because that is the foundation upon which the conference would be built.”

One of the delegates from Cross River State, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa also,  expressed optimism that the conference would be concluded in three months as stipulated, going by the enthusiasm with which the delegates were carrying out their tasks.

She disagreed that not much had been achieved in the last two weeks, saying the fact that all the delegates had agreed on the indivisibility of Nigeria was a pointer that there was progress.

Ita-Giwa said, “We are working day and night to avoid extension and we are working to achieve this at record time. Nigerians have been able to address salient issues and it looked promising in the last two weeks. One of our achievements is the fact that we have established that the country is indivisible.”

Chief Sehinde Arogbofa, a delegate from Ondo State, explained that the initial teething problems arising from efforts to develop the procedures for the conference were slowing down the conference, but that things could speed up once those problems were over.

He said, “I think three months should be enough to run the conference because it is hoped that once the knotty issues have been taken care of, other activities would be done faster.

“This is not undermining the fact that the President has already created a room for a possible extension of time as the three months given is for a start.”

He added that most of the work would be done at committee levels and that would speed up the process.

Another delegate from Ondo State, Mr. Remi Olatunbora, a serving commissioner in the state, said he did not see any reason for asking for more time, provided the disagreements causing a stalemate at conference were resolved soon.

He said, “I am of the view that if we are able to resolve the lock-jam of what constitutes a majority in accepting a decision, we will be able to finish in three months.”

Asked when the issue would be resolved, he said he believed  it would be done before activities commence next week.

Similarly, The Director-General of Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Mr. Frank Nweke Jr., on Friday said  the  conference could be concluded within three months despite the initial hiccups.

Nweke, who is a delegate to the conference, said he had no reason to believe an extra time would be required at this point.

“All that we want to achieve would definitely be achieved within three months,” he said.

He added, “We still have enough time but in the event we may need extra time, then that would not be an offence.”

However, Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and a delegate to the conference, Dr. Joe Nwaorgu, declined commenting in details on the issue.

Nwaorgu said, “I don’t think I am the kind of person that should be commenting on such issues.”

A delegate from the South-East geopolitical zone, Professor Chinedum Nwajiuba, said it would be premature to start thinking of extension for the conference.

Nwajiuba, who agreed that two weeks had already been spent at the conference, said since issues to be discussed were already known by Nigerians, delegates, would not spend much time arriving at a conclusion.

“Once we get started on these issues, it will not take much time for us to conclude. But the truth is that it is premature to begin to think of asking for an extension of time,” Nwajiuba stressed.

Similarly, a delegate from the South-South geopolitical zone, Professor Kimse Okoko, said the call for an extension of time might not be necessary if the committees carried out their work without delay.

Okoko said, “It may not be necessary for us to call for an extension of time now. What we need to do is to get things right. By the time we get to the committee stage and the committees end their tasks without delay, there will be no need for an extension.”

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