Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, a former minister and delegate from Jigawa State to the just concluded National Conference, in this interview with Wole Oladimeji speaks on the Confab, the position of the North at the confab and the implementation of the report by the presidency. Excerpts:

What is your impression of the just concluded National Conference?

The conference ended on a high happy note because it achieved harmony among all the delegates from various sections of the country. We are very happy about the conclusion of the conference, we are happy about the report of the conference. If you notice, we have agreed as a conference to look at those amendments that have been filed, that we are expecting to have been incorporated into the main report and that is one of the resolutions of the conference, they have accepted to look at each and every one of the recommendations for an amendment or inclusion and they promised to incorporate them before the return date of the final report would be submitted. We have done so, we are going to look very carefully to ensure that all the incorporated recommendations have been done and it would be well and good for everybody.

You had press conference where you alleged of new draft constitution being written by the conference, or did you do the press conference in error?

No, we have conducted the press conference where we indicated our outright rejection and disagreement, that we are not going to recognise any document outside volume 1,2 and 3 of the conference report. Volume 1, 2, and 3 are the documents adopted today and no more; any document emanating from outside these three volumes are not going to be the documents approved by the plenary of the conference today. What we objected to was the sudden and the surprising appearance of some documents called 2014 new draft constitution and the bill that was supposed to usher in the constitution. We have called the attention of the leadership that unelected people are not capable to create or recommend or draft or append in this conference to any document as the new constitution, that was why we called the press conference at the hotel, we rejected it. We told the leadership, we had meeting with them, and we told them that any suggestion or introduction of any new constitution is totally unacceptable to all our delegation from the North and that we will not recognise it.

Happily we are bold to say, this morning there have been no single mention of any of the two documents we have rejected. So we are quite pleased at the conclusion, we think those three documents adopted are the three documents we recognised as the report of the conference. Even among those three, it is the conference decision that every one of us could look at it and send any remark or amendment or report or call attention of the leadership that certain decisions made were not included and incorporated into the final report and that was not limited to Northern delegates alone. It is open to all other delegates in the conference and I understand every other section of the country has looked at the documents and has made appropriate recommendations for the understanding of the conference.

Would you say that the North got what they wanted at the conference?

Yes, the North has gotten what we wanted. What the North wanted at all times is the cohesion and unity of this country. Today you have seen unanimity among the delegations at the conference, you have seen unity among Nigerians, and you have seen us singing the old National Anthem together.

To us from the North, that is the important victory and other aspect of the nittygritty of the constitutional provisions. That is the nature of conference in a country like Nigeria with polarity of tribe, religion and other differences. Nobody will get everything, everybody must get something and that is what we have gotten today and we are pleased with our own achievement. Delegates are happy; everybody got something to show for the efforts we have spent in the last five months we were at the conference.

It is suspected that your major grouse at the press conference was the third term agenda embedded in the new draft constitution, how far have you been able to resolve this?

Well, the issue of third term agenda was embedded in the so called new draft constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2014. If you adopt a new constitution and call it 2014 and you are able to pass it through parliament and various legislatives houses, what that in effect create is that there would be totally a new constitution that would not be called 1999 constitution as amended but would be 2014 constitution, that automatically give all existing elected people opportunity of two term of four years, because that would be embedded in the new constitution and they would be legitimately qualified to contest and remain in office for the next eight years. This has happened before in this country, some governors who had contested election under the previous constitution like Yobe, Kogi and Taraba, when they came up to recontest election people said no they could not because they would have more than two terms, but the court said no, that new constitution comes with new provisions, new rights and new opportunities.

This is where the agenda of third term comes in but not so many people understood us when we are saying so but I hope now that I have told you, it is clear enough for you to understand us. You get a new constitution it gives fresh opportunities to people to contest and we do not think it is healthy for political development of this country.

How far is it going to help the unity and development of this country?

Though I disagree with some of the resolutions in the document, I still believe when implemented religiously will usher in a New Nigeria.
It's up to the National Assembly to rise up to their responsibilities.

deeobserver209: Though I disagree with some of the resolutions in the document, I still believe when implemented religiously will usher in a New Nigeria.
It's up to the National Assembly to do what is needed of them.

To do the needful

@ OP you are a bigot for attaching a misleading title to your post.