Nigeria risks coup, without national conference —Musa
March 4, 2012 by Allwell Okpi 53 Comments

Prominent northern leader and former Kaduna State governor, Balarabe Musa, has warned that the refusal of the Presidency and the National Assembly to allow the proposed National Conference to hold could lead to a social revolution or military coup.

Musa said the realities on ground showed that it was inevitable for the “sovereign people of Nigeria” to come together and discuss the way forward for the country.

According to him, the current debate over revenue sharing formula, in which northern governors are demanding more funds is another indication of the need for the conference.

“What we are proposing is a national conference, in which the delegates would be elected by their people, as the representatives of the sovereign people of Nigeria, in addition to representative of bodies such as labour, the Nigerian Bar Association and civil society groups. These people would be elected independent of the executive and the legislature, but with their support.

“After the conference, we would have a new constitution to replace the 1999 Constitution. The new constitution would be taken to the National Assembly for ratification by a motion. Then it would pass through a referendum and then becomes our new constitution,” he said.

Musa added that this was different from a Sovereign National Conference, which would require an interim government.

“SNC should be a last resort,” Musa said. “But if the executive and the legislature deny the people the opportunity for a national conference, then it would result in an SNC, a military coup or a social revolution. Are we sure what happened in Egypt and the Arab world cannot happen in Nigeria?”

Musa also queried the demands of the northern governors as regards revenue allocation. He said if the governors needed more funds, they should liaise with senators and members of the House of Representatives from their states to push for the amendment of the law that established the current revenue sharing formula.
http://www.punchng.com/news/nigeria-risks-coup-without-national-conference-musa/