Delegates divided on modalities for implementing decisions

 Delegates were on Wednesday divided on how to treat the outcome of the ongoing national conference. While some of the delegates were asking that the report must be submitted to President Goodluck Jonathan for action, others said it must be settled through referendum or be routed through the National Assembly. Others however said they should just submit the report and allow the President to take any decision he likes on it. In his contribution, Sen. Musa Adede representing South-South, said there were issues and items that bother on policy which he said President Jonathan should begin to implement immediately. He added that the President should liaise with the National Assembly on the recommendations that bother on constitutional matter, while he also deal with the National Assembly on others. A former Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Josephine Anenih, reminded the delegates of President Jonathan’s inaugural speech that peoples’ view must be heard. She added that the President has given the conference a task to decide the fate of the conference’s final reports. She said, “I will recommend that we have patriotically articulated and gathered our peoples thought. Having done that I don’t think we should shy away from the fact that we should come up with a team that will draft a constitution that it will also present to the president to do the needful.” Also contributing, Mr. Adekanbi Ayodele, who represents persons with disabilities urged the conference to put in place a modality that would encourage dialogue and find solution to Nigeria’s problems. He said the conference would be a waste of time if the outcome was not taken to Nigerians via a referendum. He said if the report is taken to National Assembly, “they may remove certain aspects that affect them or governors who often control NASS members.” A former Deputy Governor of Osun State, Mrs Olusola Obada, said all matters of policy should be collated and sent to the President, while constitutional matters which is an ongoing issue should be forwarded ‎to Nigerians for a referendum. Mr. Isaac Igbure, declared that he sood on referendum, adding that the national conference is bigger than the National Assembly. He added that President Jonathan had said it in his speech that National Assembly will make provision for referendum, reminding the delegates that they had taken some decisions which will affect the National Assembly negatively, therefore, “referendum will be the right decision.” ‎Nasiru Kura said he endorsed referendum, adding that it was only a referendum that would enable Nigerians to express their wishes. He however disagreed with those saying that the conference was bigger than the National Assembly. ‎”Anyone that stands here to say this conference is bigger than the National Assembly has a problem. Professor or a layman,” he said. A former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah, said conference should just ask the drafting people to reproduce the constitution and recommendations of the confab so that they can be placed side by side and see which one requires amendment. He said on policy issues, they should be forwarded to the president for implementation. A former Senate President, Sen. Adolphus Wabara from Abia State, said delegates should know that the Conference was not made up of elected people, adding that the power of the conference was limited. He said, “I listen to my colleagues here deriding the National Assembly and at my age, I know that ‘Power Pass Power’. “The National Assembly has enormous power and the Conference cannot do anything without recourse to the National Assembly and the two bodies cannot be compared.” He said the National Assembly has the power to alter or amend the Constitution, and that what the national conference was doing was merely complimentary. A delegate from Ogun State, Mr. Bisi Adeboye, described the 1999 constitution as illegitimate and that if the conference report was not taken to the people, it risked becoming illegitimate. He also asked that the conference report should be sent to the people to be ratified to cure the “illegitimacy of Decree 24 of 1999 that is called Constitution”. He further added that the conference should not go into undue competition with National Assembly. Prof. Akin Oyebode said the 1999 constitution is actually Decree 24 that was imposed on Nigerians by the military. He said that the conference should advise the president well, just as he cautioned against sending the report to the National Assembly “because we have taken the shine off the National Assembly”. He said that the report should be subjected to a referendum, insisting that the report of the conference is superior to the National Assembly because they are elected under a military process. Aisha Madawaki from Sokoto State said the conference report should be presented to the President, adding that the format of the report should be based on constitutional amendments, policies and strategies for implementation. This, he said, would guide the president, and also asked that the report should also be made available to all Nigerians online. In his contribution, Pastor Tunde Bakare, said final report when ready should be sent to the President who he said, should set up a task force to implement matters concerning policy.