National Conference Holds Between March-May With 492 Delegates

The federal government has approved 492 delegates to participate in the proposed national conference, expected to start in March and end in May this year.

In the modalities for its convocation which were released yesterday, of the 492 delegates, representing all shades of opinion and interest groups nationwide, President Goodluck Jonathan will nominate 46. These comprise 37 elder statesmen drawn from each of the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), six representatives from the judiciary as well as the chairman, deputy chairman and secretary of the conference.

The 36 state governors will nominate 108 delegates made up of three persons each to represent their states and one delegate will represent the FCT. However, where a state governor fails to nominate delegates, the president is empowered to pick representatives for such state.

The five major parties with representation in the National Assembly, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressives Congress (APC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Labour Party (LP) and Accord Party (AP) will also be required to send 10 delegates, comprising two nominees each.

The judiciary, media, the disabled, former political office holders, socio-cultural groups/ethnic nationalities and professional groups, among others, will also be represented at the conference whose major task is to draft an agenda for Nigeria's future.

According to details of the modalities for convening the national dialogue, which has now been officially christened “The National Conference”, that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, released at a news conference in Abuja, the parley will hold in the FCT.

Anyim said at the press briefing that the release of the modalities followed the acceptance of recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue by the president.

The 13-member committee headed by Afenifere chieftain, Senator Femi Okunrounmu, which the president inaugurated on October 7, 2013, submitted its report last December.

Announcing the highlights of the recommendations approved by the federal government for immediate implementation at the press briefing attended by Okunrounmu and the committee's Secretary, Dr. Akilu Indabawa, Anyim said the government, after long and mature deliberations on the committee's report, accepted the following recommendations for immediate implementation:

•The official name of the conversation/conference shall be "The National Conference";
•The National Conference shall hold in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja;

•The National Conference shall tentatively last for three months and shall discuss any subject matter, except the indivisibility and indissolubility of Nigeria as a nation, therefore the unity of Nigeria is non-negotiable;

•A Conference Management Secretariat shall be established to manage, administer and run the affairs of the conference;

•Decisions at The National Conference shall be by consensus;
•But where it is not achievable, it shall be by 75 per cent majority;
•The National Conference shall advise the government on the legal framework, legal procedures and options for integrating the decisions and outcomes of The National Conference into the constitution and laws of the country; and
•The National Conference shall have a chairperson and a deputy chairperson of unimpeachable integrity.

In the timetable released towards the convocation of The National Conference, the federal government fixed January 30 (yesterday) for the formal release of the modalities for The National Conference while the nomination of delegates will begin from January 30 to February 20.

The inauguration of the conference is expected to come after the successful compilation of the delegates' list.

Earlier, Anyim had said the federal government was satisfied with how the Okunrounmu committee diligently discharged its task to the nation and even exceeded expectations.

He recalled that Jonathan had in his Independence Day national broadcast of October 1, 2013, set up the advisory committee with a mandate to advise the federal government on the framework for a national dialogue by consulting widely with Nigerians.

He said: “The federal government is satisfied that the committee has diligently discharged its task to the nation and posterity. This is more so, especially as one recalls the foundational principles of their assignment as espoused by President Jonathan at the inauguration of the committee.

"Therefore, one of the objectives for setting up the committee was to lend weight and direction to the national dialogue. You may also recall that Mr. President has also allayed the fears of those who think the national dialogue will call the integrity of Nigeria into question,” adding that the national dialogue would strengthen the union and address issues that were often on the front burner, but too frequently ignored.

To allay fears that the conference would distract attention from the 2015 elections, Anyim said delegates must conclude their deliberations before the polls.

“The National Conference will be over before we hit the next political season. There is nothing that will hold us down so that we will not finish with the conference before the start of next political season.

“For us, we have not received any form of formal notification from any group or political party that they will not support the conference.

“If you look, you will find out that representation of political parties is minimal. A critical look at the proposed delegates will show you that politicians are in the minority so that it will not be politicised.

“I want you to know that it is done in such a way that ethnic nationalities are more represented and that the modalities we have set up are proposed by Nigerians,” he added.
Also speaking, Okunrounmu disclosed that most of the groups and geopolitical zones were ready for the planned conference.

“They even plan to have zonal conferences so that there will be no conflicts before the commencement of the national conference,” he said.