There’s no law backing referendum for confab- Ndoma-Egba

Senate leader Victor Ndoma-Egba (PDP, Cross River central) took time during the launch of his empowerment programme to field questions from newsmen. Excerpts:

Do you agree that the outcome of the National Conference should go through a referendum?
A referendum under which law? Which law in Nigeria provides for a referendum? There is no law.  Those advocate it are saying it should go directly to the people and I have decided not to make any comment on it because who will take it to the people?  How do you determine the people who will receive it?  How do you determine the venue where they will receive it?  How do you determine how they will vote?  How do you determine whether the results of the votes are genuine?  How do you determine all of those issues? When we talk about referendum there is no law providing for referendum and as far as I am concerned the referendum is just wishful thinking because there is no law guiding it.        

Akunyili is alive –Aide

A former Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, is not dead, it was learnt on Friday.

Mr president as no business going to chibok says Asara

Chief Asara Asara Aki IX is the paramount ruler of   Obanema of Akipelai kingdom in Bayelsa State and a member of the National Conference. He explains in this interview why President Goodluck Jonathan should not be blamed for the insecurity in the country. Excerpts:

Initial fears about the Confab are that it will lead to the country’s break up. Would you say the fear has been dispelled?
The confab is moving forward as expected, because you know in the president’s inaugural speech, he made a statement on the two things that we must not discuss; the indivisibility and the unity of this country, but to me I feel the other way, because even if it is a marriage, as husband and wife, you have to discuss, you have to meet your fiancée, speak to her, convince her, then she will assess you, look at your qualities, then she will accept you.  But in the case of Nigeria, there is nothing like that. They just got up one day, and one white man who has finished taking tea called the people and said you are  together, and the people have been managing themselves until now and therefore, there is need to discuss.

Regional autonomy becomes nothing

Being the position paper of Yoruba groups towards achieving regional autonomy

Regional Autonomy means…

a. Control of natural resources within the region.

b. Developing and establishing appropriate governance structure for the Region, and

c. Devolved authority, responsibilities and span of control to manage and ensure the sustenance of the region.

Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife [Okwadike] – former Governor of old Anambra State and a delegate at the 2014 National Conference in an interview with Newswatch on 12 May 2014 [Retrieved 12 May 2014, said: “The only zone that is very strong because of their rationality is the South-West. Even if others do not embark on federating unit based on zones, the South-West is going to have their region intact economically; then, they will develop, progress, grow and every part of Nigeria would be envious of the region. It is the decision they are taking now. Some people don‘t understand it. At least, they taught some of us, but it is the truth that I am saying now that the South-West will grow exponentially when regional government is adopted.”

Jonathan assigned confab to fail – Junaid

 

 A Kano State delegate to the ongoing National Conference, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, speaks about the conference, among other current national issues. Excerpt:

Would you say you are satisfied with the quality of debate at the National Conference so far?

I was absolutely flabbergasted with the quality of debate at the initial plenary because the entire debate was confined to grandstanding, praising the President to high heavens and praising his speech which everybody knows is nothing but a collection of bits and pieces put together by civil servants, (and) poorly edited for that matter. Having finished that, when those who came because they were nominated by the President

Tenure extension for Jonathan been rejected by Confab delegates

Former Chief Justice of Nigeria and chairman of the conference, retired Justice Idris Kutigi

Delegates attending the National Conference have said they will not extend the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan and other elected government officials.

A member of the conference from South-South Chief Okon Osung, who is making the proposal, had on Friday said he had already distributed the proposal to some delegates, including all the 24-members in the Public Finance Committee, headed by a former Governor of Kebbi State, Senator Adamu Aliero.

The delegate insisted that the proposal for postponing the 2015 elections for 18 months was to take the “wind out of the sail of coup enthusiasts and proponents, and thereby deny them the excuse of plotting coups.

“The inbuilt mechanism inherent in democracy should be allowed to operate so that coup plotters

Confab Delegate to Jonathan, INEC : To Postpone 2015 Elections by 18 months

A Delegate representing the South South geo- political Zone of the country at the on- going National Conference, Chief Okon Osung has called on the Federal government and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to postpone the proposed 2015 general and Presidential elections by at least eighteen (18) months, just as he said that the nation’s democracy must be preserved. Addressing Journalists in Abuja yesterday, Okon Osung noted that with the present Nigeria’s National history and the insecurity challenges with Boko Haram engaging in massive killings of persons and wanton destruction of property in some parts of the country as well as cases of kidnapping, holding elections February next year was no longer feasible as it has become imperative for Nigeria to have a declaration of a Presidential

FG must speak with one voice on Boko Haram – APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the federal government to stop making contradictory statements and speak with one voice on issues concerning the ongoing efforts to find and rescue the schools girls abducted by Boko Haram.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by its interim national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the conflicting statements credited to top government officials over the conditions

APGA seeks confab review of national policing

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has called for a review of national policing techniques as part of efforts to curtail the present security challenges in the country.

The party also appealed to the federal government and security agencies in the country to work towards perfecting intelligence gathering techniques in the country.
In a statement issued to newsmen yesterday in Abuja by the senior special assistant on media to the national chairman of the party, Victor Eneh, the party described as a welcome development