The National Conference is set for a stormy session, Thursday, as northern delegates officially wrote the confab leadership to dissociate themselves from the draft constitution proposed by the conference leadership.

The letter comes as the confab chairman, Idris Kutigi, on Wednesday defended the draft constitution, and made efforts to mend fences and resolve the controversy.
In order to try to placate the delegates and achieve a common ground, Mr. Kutigi also announced that proceedings at the National Conference had been postponed till Thursday.

He said the postponement is to allow the leadership meet with zonal leaders.
Mr. Kutigi said the adjournment was necessitated on the need to fast track the process of final approval of the draft resolution of the confab and other documents such as the new draft constitution and a bill to introduce it to the National Assembly.

Delegates from the 19 northern states had on Tuesday accused the confab leadership of introducing a third term agenda for elected officials by introducing a new constitution.

They alleged that drafting a new constitution and a bill to the National Assembly was not part of the agenda of the confab, and that it was never approved.

On Wednesday, Mr. Kutigi explained the situation saying the copy labeled “draft constitution” contains various alterations and amendments to the 1999 Constitution “proposed by you ( the delegates).”

He assured delegates of the inviolability of the draft resolutions; adding: “If there are any errors, they are human errors and not an attempt by the leadership to any play game.”

He further stated that the draft reports of the Conference prepared by the Secretariat were done “to the best of our ability and with all honesty and diligence.”

He said as humans, there could be noticeable errors that would be corrected if brought to the attention of the secretariat.

“Any mistake is due to human error and can be corrected,” he said.
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The chairman said in line with the resolution of the Conference, the reports were prepared to cover constitutional issues based on amendments agreed upon by the delegates; policy issues meant for implementation by the President; and legislative issues earmarked for enactment into laws by the National Assembly.

He also spelt out the procedure to be adopted by the Conference for consideration and approval of the different reports.

He said after considering several options towards resolving issues emanating from the reports within the shortest possible time and without problems, the leadership came to the conclusion that the smooth but detailed method adopted in handling committees’ reports be applied.

Mr. Kutigi said all groups and individuals should study the report, diligently write out areas that need to be corrected and submit them to the Conference Secretariat for compilation and presentation to the Conference when delegates reconvene on Thursday.

The Chairman said when such comments are compiled, they would be read out on the floor and would either be adopted or rejected by the Conference in plenary for final adoption of the report.

In a statement, the confab spokesperson, James Akpandem, stated that in order to further enhance and smoothen the process of approving the draft report prepared by the Secretariat, the Chairman summoned a meeting of leaders of delegation from the geo-political zones to discuss certain critical issues.

Mr. Akpandem said both proposals were unanimously accepted by the Conference in plenary without any objection while delegates agreed to meet again on Thursday to practically begin the process of approving the reports.

Mr. Akpandem said during separate meetings with the leaders of the northern and southern delegation, the Conference management was severally commended for producing a magnificent report within a short space of time.

Before adjourning the session, Mr. Kutigi announced the presence of a new delegate, Supo Shonibare, who replaced Olaniwun Ajayi from the South West; and the death of Mohammed Nur Alkali.

Northern delegates kick
Meanwhile, northern delegates, NDF, reiterated their objection to the emergence of a new constitution by writing an open letter to Mr. Kutigi threatening to disown the report of the conference.
The letter, jointly signed by the NDF, co-chairmen, Ibrahim Coomassie and Jeremiah Useni informed Mr. Kutigi that they have never been part of any process to draft a new constitution.
“We hereby categorically state that our members are not party or privy to any decision and certainly did not participate in any processes or proceedings to draft a constitution or Bills. Quite on the contrary, we have, in no uncertain terms, expressed our objections to any such project under any guise,” they said

They also said they were unaware that the Conference, whether at plenary or committee stages of its work, took a decision to draw up a draft constitution, authorized or tasked any of its Committees, delegates or the Conference Secretariat.

“In view of this, we hereby dissociate ourselves from and totally reject the Draft Constitution already circulated. Furthermore we wish to formally notify you that our members condemn the brazen attempt by the Leadership of the Conference to impose on us a Draft Constitution whose ownership and knowledge the leadership has denied and which is not attributed to any person.

“It is a document whose authorship we absolutely have no hand in. In our view, the draft constitution circulated is a document of dubious and questionable origins.
“By our assessment, the content of the Draft Constitution is replete with extraneous matters and issues that bear no relations to the resolutions adopted by Conference and many of which are at variance or in conflict with Conference resolution or in respect of which no decision has been taken.

“For sample particulars of some extraneous issues, Inconsistencies and unsubstantiated inclusions and exclusions contained in the Draft Constitution refer to Sections 2(A) at page 12; 8(1) (h), 8 (2) a – h at page 15; new section 9(2) a – c at page 19; new section 162(1A) and 5(A) at page 143; and the deletion of section 315 at page 266. These various provisions pertain to issues of State Constitution, boundary adjustment, referendum to adopt Constitution, funding for Local Government Areas, and deletion of Land Use Act and the abrogation of
all existing laws, which the section has entrenched and saved respectively,” they said.

The NDF said having been established by executive fiat, the Conference lacks the necessary democratic credential, legitimacy or legal or constitutional basis or mandate to assume the exercise of the sovereign will of the people or purport to behave as a Constituent Assembly.

“It is incontrovertible that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 contains, very clear provisions, under section 9, and has spelt out explicit rules to govern specific steps to follow to alter its provisions, including the adoption of an entirely new Constitution if deemed desirable.

“The procedure for any alteration does not envisage or recognize “referendum” as a mechanism for bringing about any change to the existing Constitution or the adoption of a new on,” NDF said.

They also argued that for any alteration to the constitution to be legitimate or credible, it must be validated by the concurrent adoption of the National Assembly and the resolution in support of 2/3 (24) of the Houses of Assembly of the States where this is assented to by the President.

“It would be a ridiculous perversion of all known constitutional and legal norms for the Conference to purport to consider or adopt the Draft Constitution without being clothed with necessary mandate and in total disregard or violation of the existing legal and constitutional order.

“It excites our curiosity to wonder why anybody would seek to adopt a purported Constitution whose effective date is 2014 during the currency of incumbent elected officials in clear violation of the existing constitution under which they have been elected and which they have sworn to abide by, uphold, and defend This would amount to a blatant subversion of the existing constitutional and legal order.

“As proposed, the draft Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2014 has negated or preempted and dispensed with all due processes related to, for instance, the creation of new States by inserting those proposed without meeting any of the objective criteria set by conference and in the absence of proper boundary demarcation and/or obtaining the consent of affected communities. This is without prejudice to acknowledging the fact that Conference has adopted resolutions for the creation of the named States, which we support in principle,” NDF said.

The NDF asked the leadership of the Conference to disregard and withdraw the Draft Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2014 and the accompanying Bills, which have been circulated.

They also urged the Conference leadership to table the Draft Conference Report which contains only the resolutions openly and officially sanctioned and adopted by delegates for validation and adoption as provided for under the National Conference Procedure Rules, 2014 and as envisaged in the Work Plan adopted.

“For the avoidance of doubt, we shall not be a party to the adoption of the report or any part thereof by voice vote. We urge the leadership of the Conference to be strictly guided by the Conference Procedure Rules, 2014,” they said.


www.freedomafric.com/central/national-conference-set-for-stormy-session-northern-delegates-restate-opposition-draft-constitution-t1355.html

The north will not allow this. The north will not allow that. What does the north really want? Status quo? Stagnation? The north is Nigeria's problem. And they are making it obvious for all to see now.

d North iz always against any good tin dat want to happen to diz country d problem of diz country has always been d north.

jerseyboy: The north will not allow this. The north will not allow that. What does the north really want? Status quo? Stagnation? The north is Nigeria's problem. And they are making it obvious for all to see now.

Forget about your useless talk.Hand picked loyalist of GEJ can determine constitution for us.An agenda lopsided constitution conference with 390 southerners and 192 northerners cant determine fate of the north.

I knew some people will be too daft to understand this piece, just like the 2 first posters. Many more are coming to post poo without reading the article or without understanding it because it is too complex for them to decipher.

So n.a. like this they want to waste our 3 mil a month payment

If the only thing they want to agree in this conference is to disagree, what is the usefulness of this conference. Everyone knows that their should be am ammendment to our constitution but obviously the status quo would not allow anything affect its interest.

What did u expect??....they have been dragging this country back since 1960. This what u get when d children of cattle-rearers are given too much say in things.

lilprinze: d North iz always against any good tin dat want to happen to diz country d problem of diz country has always been d north.

and their sisters from South West

ElekeNtioba:
What did u expect??....they have been dragging this country back since 1960. This what u get when d [b]children of cattle-rearers [/b]are given too much say in things.

What would you expect from children of Apes, ever aping to have gone to school but turning out stark educated illiterates, where basic comprehension seems always to evade them.
Oya, Mr bonobo faced monkey, tell us what you could not understand from the northern delegates point of view so that we can help explain, otherwise lets us see how you could try to fault their arguments or else STFU.

BTW, I'd rather be the child of a cattle rearer (after all it is still an honest way of life) than the product of a baby factory or child of ape-like barbaric criminals - mutherfvcker

MeAboki:

What would you expect from children of Apes, ever aping to have gone to school but turning out stark educated illiterates, where basic comprehension seems always to evade them.
Oya, Mr bonobo faced monkey, tell us what you could not understand from the northern delegates point of view so that we can help explain, otherwise lets us see how you could try to fault their arguments or else STU.

BTW, I'd rather be the child of a cattle rearer (after all it is still an honest way of life) than the product of a baby factory or child of ape-like barbaric criminals - mutherfvcker

lol...see whos callin anoda ape....btw when did u go to school to reach d level of typin sumtin comprehensible. Seems free education is working wonders in d north. Sorry, but i dont join words with people like u who are slaves to their ruling class. When u northerners get rid of those blood-sucking elite that manipulate and enslave u pple den we may have sumtin to talk abt. D gulf between us is too much. I am born free while u ar born to serve dem. #finalReply

If the points raised in their letter to the conference chairman are as they've claimed, it's obvious they will not accept the draft.
We need to read the post before passing blind comments.

ElekeNtioba:

lol...see whos callin anoda ape....btw when did u go to school to reach d level of typin sumtin comprehensible. Seems free education is working wonders in d north. Sorry, but i dont join words with people like u who are slaves to their ruling class. When u northerners get rid of those blood-sucking elite that manipulate and enslave u pple den we may have sumtin to talk abt. D gulf between us is too much. I am born free while ur a born to serve dem. #finalReply

Fvcking idiota, I would rather be a slave to my ruling class, than like you, a slave to abject stewpidity and ignorance.
If I may have benefitted from free education; then you represent an unfortunate example of a failure in paid education. No doubt your parents and teachers must be disappointed in you for wasting their money and time respectively.
See as you are failing to accomplish a simple exercise in comprehension and logic; pls prove me wrong by faulting the arguments presented by the northern delegates with facts - pls no evasiveness, innuendos or sentiments, just facts or for ever STFU, silly troglodyte.

The North, it is always the north.

Who cares if they disagree

The north is the most backward region in nigeria and remain the country problem to progress rapidly. Separate No, Leave others No, go your way No. Let unite and build a nation No. Be hard working like other region No. The only thing i can picture from what they are arguing is leave the country the way it is. Let them rule. While other region are busy working to build a great country and contributes to the centre. They remain lazy and take where they didnt not sow, come to abuja and collect billions every month. The only thing they can offer the country is killing killing and killing.

Kingspin: The north is the most backward region in nigeria and remain the country problem to progress rapidly. Separate No, Leave others No, go your way No. Let unite and build a nation No. Be hard working like other region No. The only thing i can picture from what they are arguing is leave the country the way it is. Let them rule. While other region are busy working to build a great country and contributes to the centre. They remain lazy and take where they didnt not sow, come to abuja and collect billions every month. The only thing they can offer the country is killing killing and killing.

Don't blame those lazy northern leaders, blame some southern selfish leaders who also give the malams free tickets to the presidency .

There are a number of investments that i personally thinks can never fails, those are the thing we will be discussion here today,but the problem of today's youth is impatience as they are always searching for already made jobs which can not be readily available for all of us, it is only a few that will be able to get that kind of job. haven't said that, it is high time as young Nigerians that we should develops investment mentality in a viable business and stop looking for that already made job. Like I said above, there are a number of investment that you can do that will yield returns within three months. are you following? the number one on the list is Online business. there are many online business out there and also there are many screamers too you must be very careful while making your choice, but i will gives you a little from that list that are very reliable Bulksms business will never fail if you can do proper marketing of your site. information marketing also can never fails as well. websites design is also a viable business, and many more find out yourself.
Aside from that offline business that can not fails are, Water business started like play some years ago till now people are still asking for more.
live stock rearing is the most viable one i like so much poultry, piggery, fishery and many more that you can add to that list.
You can sees now that in Nigeria today we can still have some investment that can fetch you good money without recording any form of failure.
Thanks for your time in Reading this report.

koboko69: I knew some people will be too daft to understand this piece, just like the 2 first posters. Many more are coming to post poo without reading the article or without understanding it because it is too complex for them to decipher.

two words for ya 'FEAR NORTH'

MeAboki:

What would you expect from children of Apes, ever aping to have gone to school but turning out stark educated illiterates, where basic comprehension seems always to evade them.
Oya, Mr bonobo faced monkey, tell us what you could not understand from the northern delegates point of view so that we can help explain, otherwise lets us see how you could try to fault their arguments or else STFU.

BTW, I'd rather be the child of a cattle rearer (after all it is still an honest way of life) than the product of a baby factory or child of ape-like barbaric criminals - mutherfvcker

FEAR NORTH!

Well d north seems to be making a point hia. Let dem go tru d draft and den point out issues day are not okay with for prompt and peaceful resolution. But if day fail to do dat or produce more problems while doing so, den day are nothing but BASTARDS, CATTLE-BRAINED and BACKWARD/STONEAGED PUNKS. SHIKENA!

I always respect the political dexterity of my northern brothers even while such causes backwardness for Nigeria since independence it is not easy holding a nation of more than 250 ethnics into ransom by one single ethnic called Hausa/Fulani !!

One day is gonna be one day when Nigeria is gonna sail toward the path of Political greatness when Northerners will see reasons rather than ego !!

obongproff: BASTARDS, CATTLE-BRAINED and BACKWARD/STONEAGED PUNKS. SHIKENA!

Imagine, this is why a southerner make me laugh ..... Keep insulting them while they keep showing you how it's being done !!

hmmmm 9ja!!! im scared 4ur future

wasting national resources

I don't like this idea of naming the document a "Draft Constitution." It should have been called "(Proposed) Amendments to the 1999 Constitution".

I see I see

Ddaji: Forget about your useless talk.Hand picked loyalist of GEJ can determine constitution for us.An agenda lopsided constitution conference with 390 southerners and 192 northerners cant determine fate of the north.

you don't have to display your ignorance everywhere. every state sent in the same number of delegates and it is a known fact the north has more states than the south meaning the north has a more total number of delegates to this conference than the south.