THE Presidency has once again made it clear that it would
not consider the 2014 Confab report, despite calls from some quarters that the
recommendations be considered and implemented...
Mr Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to
President Muhammadu Buhari, ruled out implementation of the report, Sunday
night, when he appeared on Channels Television’s programme on Nigeria’s 57th
Independence anniversary celebrations. Asked why the Federal Government would
not consider the report, Mr Shehu said: “It was not an inclusive conference.
You very well recall that the leaders of our own party – whether ACN and all of
that and the governors were missing from that conference. ‘’To make matters
worse, the confab was heavily criticised but the Goodluck Jonathan
administration went on with it. This (the confab) was lopsided in terms of
representation, ethnically, religiously, regionally; and they were insensitive
to all of these things and then they want to force it down the throats of
everyone. That is why it’s a problem.” President Buhari and his administration
had called on aggrieved people in the country to take their grievances to the
National Assembly which it said had the constitutional backing to address such
concerns. But there had been concerns that it would be impossible to get the
National Assembly to make laws in line with the desires and wishes of
Nigerians, especially as such laws may be detrimental to interests represented
by the lawmakers. Shehu is not bothered by such concerns. Reason: “The members
of the National Assembly are not aliens and they don’t come from the moon. They
are Nigerians and they are representing definite constituencies in some of the
states. So, they are serving the purpose of representation. Why can’t they be
trusted?” The Presidential aide suggested that those behind the agitation in
the country were those who had failed the nation in the past. “It is not like I
have no respect for older people. But there are people who think that they have
messed up this country so much that they now want to resolve the problems that
they created and they are in a hurry to do that,” he said. Hard knocks for
Shehu Shehu’s views attracted hard knocks from some delegates to the confab and
leaders who insisted that the country must be restructured urgently to
accelerate socio-economic growth and development. Those who picked holes in the
Presidency’s stance were Leader of the National Christian Elders Forum, NCEF,
Chief Solomon Asemota; Elder statesman and Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo
Adebanjo; Elder statesman, Chief E.K. Clark; Ogoni activist, Mr. Ledum MitEe,
Mr Yinka Odumakin; and former President of Trade Unions Congress, TUC, Mr.
Peter Esele. However, Second Republic lawmaker, Dr Junaid Mohammed, said the 2014
confab was doomed from the beginning and some of the recommendations were
smuggled in. No joining issues on this– Asemota Chief Solomon Asemota, SAN, a
member of Presidential Advisory Committee on the 2014 National Conference, said
there was no going back on restructuring of the country to ensure justice and
equity, adding that the NCEF would not join issues with Malam Garba Shehu on
the 2014 Confab recommendations. His words: ‘’The NCEF has a collective view.
We are talking about restructuring that encompasses everything. We are not
going into any debate with Garba Shehu on the implementation of the confab
report. ‘’We have been operating a faulty constitution and those who have
gained so much from it will not like to let go.’’ Presidency can’t pull wool
over our eyes – Ayo Adebanjo A delegate to the conference, Chief Ayo Adebanjo,
took a swipe at the Presidency, saying it would not pull wool over peoples’
eyes on its objection to the 2014 National Conference report. Adebanjo said:
“Does he want to organise his own which will be all-inclusive? We have passed
the stage where a person can pull wool over our eyes. Is that the reason he is
jettisoning the report? What is their objection in the recommendations of the
confab? I have told him (President Buhari) that he should stop this talk of
throwing away the Confab report. Who are the people that forced the current
constitution we are operating now? This is the question. He should stop drawing
wool over our eyes. ‘’You can never get the composition in the county that
produced the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference. We had quality
people there, we had judges there, workers and lawyers; it was all inclusive.
‘’What is the non- inclusiveness he is talking about? It is just pretence
because we passed 600 resolutions unanimously. How many people drafted the
constitution that was forced on us? Is it not the military? ‘’They gathered
about 50 people to draft the 1999 constitution and they put aside the one the
founding fathers gave us in 1960, agreed to by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Sir
Ahmadu Bello and Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. ‘’The Presidency has not been able to talk
about that. If you say the confab is not all inclusive, what is the problem of
going back to the 1960 constitution? What do they have against that?” FG must
restructure Nigeria – Odumakin Another delegate to the conference, Mr Yinka
Odumakin, said though the President could dump the outcome of the confab in the
archives if he had issues with the report but he must be committed to
restructuring the country. “We are not fixated on the 2014 National Conference
as an event but the federal spirit that the outcomes engendered. If the
President has issues with the conference, he can leave it in the archives but
he must start to steer the country in the direction of true federalism promised
in the APC manifesto. We acknowledge his acceptance that agitations for
restructuring are legitimate. He must walk the talk.” Garba Shehu should define
inclusiveness Also speaking, a former President of Trade Unions Congress, TUC,
who was at the conference, Comrade Peter Esele, said: ‘’It is important for
Garba Shehu to define what he meant because every section of this country was
represented. ‘’We had Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. All the political parties in the
country were also represented except the APC that declined to attend. We even
had representatives of the military at the conference. He needs to define
inclusiveness. “We are not saying that the Confab report is the panacea to all
our problems. But there are certain things this government can take from the
report. It does not matter whether it was convened by PDP or another party.
What matters is that Nigeria’s money was used to organize the conference in the
interest of this country.” Confab doomed from inception – Junaid Mohammed
Second Republic lawmaker, Dr Junaid Mohammed, who was also a delegate at the
conference, said the 2014 Confab was doomed from the beginning. He said: “Garba
Shehu is too insignificant for me to start arguing with but I can confirm that
the outcome of the Confab was also rigged because some of the recommendations
made after the Confab were not agreed on. “Issues like that of State Police and
many others were never agreed on at the Confab yet it is contained in the
recommendation. I believe it is within the rights of President Buhari’s
government to refuse to implement the outcome of the 2014 Confab.” He said he
was not surprised by the stance of the Presidency because “from day one, the
All Progressives Congress, APC, dissociated itself and they never sent anyone
to the conference. APC also maintained that if they win the elections, they
will not implement the report of the Confab. So I am not surprised at their
unwillingness to implement the report.” It’s proper to look at the report —
Calrk Chief Edwin Clark on his part said: “I am pleading with him (Buhari) to
have an open heart. If the party can look at restructuring, it is only proper
for the administration to look at the report of the conference because a lot of
money was put into the project and everybody was involved. We made over 600
recommendations and we had 20 committees which had the northern delegates
chairing more committees than the southern delegates.” It’s a sad day — Anenih
Also speaking with Vanguard, former Minister of Women Affairs and a delegate to
the conference, Iyom Josephine Anenih, said if government fails to implement
the report of the all encompassing conference, the progress of the country will
be set backward. Anenih said: “It is a sad day, the day the Presidency will make
such a statement that it will not look at the report of the 2014 Conference. We
do not know which other conference can be as inclusive as that of the 2014
Confab.” It’s unfortunate — Bishop Bogobiri On his part, the Bishop of Catholic
Diocese of Kafanchan and a delegate to the conference, Bishop Joseph Bogobiri,
condemned moves by the Presidency to jettison the report of the conference.
According to him, 2014 conference report contains all the wishes and
aspirations of Nigerians, adding that if the present agitations in some parts
of the country must be nipped in the bud or curtailed, it has become very
imperative for the government to implement recommendations of the conference.
His words: “It is unfortunate that we have a government that is doing things its
own way; the government should put in place things that will reduce tension and
discontent in the land. It is really unfortunate. If the statement had come
from the government, it is really unfortunate that the government is listening
to a few people.” Govt should look at the report —Ledum Mitee Former President,
Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP and a delegate to the
conference, Ledum Mitee said to throw away the entire report because of the
excuse that the composition was not all inclusive was not healthy for the
country. He said: “It is more important to look at the content of what came out
of the conference and not the number. To throw away everything because of that
flimsy excuse is not healthy.” It’s unfortunate, says Salami Former National
Chairman of Labour Party and delegate to the 2014 National Conference, Alhaji
Abdulkadir Salami on his part, described as unfortunate, the rejection of the
report. “It is unfortunate for them to say they will not implement the report
of the 2014 National Conference because of it not being all inclusive in
participation. ‘Let him set up another one that he thinks is all inclusive.”
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