By IHEANACHO NWOSU, JULIANA TAIWO-OBALONYE and FRED ITUA, Abuja
Contrary to his March 17, 2014 promise while inaugurating the National Conference in Abuja, that the outcome of the dialogue would go into referendum, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday reversed himself, saying the final document will be forwarded to the Council of State and the National Assembly for execution.
The President’s sudden change of mind was probably borne out of the National Assembly’s inability to conclude the ongoing Constitution amendment where a referendum would have been accommodated. President Jonathan did not make any reference to his inaugural promise when he said Nigerians would be allowed to participate in the post-centenary era which he said the conference outcome represents.
“Let me at this point thank the National Assembly for introducing the provision for a referendum in the proposed amendment of the Constitution. This should be relevant for this conference if at the end of the deliberations, the need for a referendum arises. I therefore, urge the National Assembly and the state Houses of Assembly to speed up the Constitution amendment process especially with regard to the subject of referendum,” the President had promised.
On current plans to forward the report to the Council of State and the National Assembly, Jonathan said: “As I receive the report of your painstaking deliberations, let me assure that your work is not going to be a waste of time and resources. We shall do all we can to ensure the implementation of your recommendations which have come out of consensus and not by divisions.
“The discourse reflected our latest challenges. We shall send the relevant aspects of your recommendations to the Council of State and the National Assembly for incorporation into the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. On our part, we shall act on those aspects required of us in the executive.”
The President, who formally closed the 2014 National Conference, also told a cheering crowd that critics of the dialogue who had predicted that nothing significant would come from the gathering had been proved wrong. The Chairman of the Conference, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, supported the President’s position on how critics have been proved wrong.
“There were those who set out to impugn ulterior motives to our modest efforts at reshaping and strengthening the foundations of our nationhood to deliver better political cohesion and greater development agenda. The naysayers raised false alarms over some phantom hidden agenda and called to question our sincerity and did everything possible to derail this noble project.
“The success of this conference has proved the cynics wrong in many respects. Those who dismissed the entire conference ab initio as a “diversion” have been proved wrong as what you achieved has contrary to their forecast diverted our country only from the wrong road to the right direction.
“They said the conference would end in a deadlock as Nigeria had reached a point where the constituent parts could no longer agree on any issue. We exploded that myth by suggesting that you should arrive at your decisions by consensus or 75% majority threshold,” Jonathan noted.
Justice Kutigi said at no time did the President interfere during the deliberations. He said contrary to public perception, the presidency declined to intervene even when their help was needed.
“We have finally laid to rest the apprehension that a National Conference will lead to the disintegration of Nigeria. We have held a National Conference and we are more united today than ever.
“Let me state here categorically and with the fear of Almighty Allah in my heart, that not once did you (President) interfere or dictate to us in the course of this Conference. The only time we tried to consult the President during the conflict over voting percentages at the very beginning of the conference we were told that the issue was for us to resolve. At no time after that did you meet with us or speak to us,” Kutigi told revealed.
On how his team overcame challenges that threatened the confab’s success, Kutigi said: “When you inaugurated the National Conference on March 17, we knew that you had given us a tough assignment which many Nigerians did not believe could come to a successful conclusion. Yet, here we are, five months later, a ceremony to mark the successful execution of the conference. It is not enough that we lasted this long, but we overcame all the obstacles that came along the way.
For the first time, delegates who were elated, gave a standing ovation to Justice Kutigi. With the submission of the final report to the President yesterday, the 2014 National Conference has ended.
