Afenifere, YCE, PANDEF, others carpet Presidency over opposition to national conference

A blaze of anger on Wednesday trailed the declaration by the Presidency against the convoking of a national conference to address the fundamental issues currently threatening the corporate existence of the country. 

Major stakeholders in the Nigerian project expressed strong reservation about the stance of the government on the matter. 

Among them are the pan-Yoruba organisation, Afenifere; the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF); Conference of Autonomous Ethnics Nationalities Community Development Association (CAENCDA) and a former minister of education, Professor Tunde Adeniran. 

The Presidency had, speaking through the Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity), Mallam Garba Shehu, urged those behind the agitation for such conference to channel their grievances to the National Assembly, which is currently in the process of amending the 1999 Constitution. 

Shehu said: “Yes, there are problems and we are hoping that as people united and loving of one another, we will come together and solve our problems and that leads me to the question, whether there should be national conference? 

“What national conference? Do you have more than a parliament? Anyone who is a democrat in heart, in practice in their beliefs, should believe in the tripartite structure of government. There is a parliament, the executive arm of the government and the judiciary, each one being independent and cooperating with the other. We have an elected parliament, which has a mandate as the custodian of the sovereignty of the Nigerian people. 

“Look, a lot of these people were crying for this secession, they are unelectable. If you think you are electable, go around for a parliamentary seat whether House of Representatives or Senate and come and table an amendment for the constitution.” 

Speaking to the Nigerian Tribune, however, Professor Adeniran said the only alternative is for the Federal Government to implement the 2014 national confab report. 

The former Nigerian ambassador to Germany said: “I have said so much about this in the past. My position remains that Nigerians must not be taken for granted. Continuing with the imposed 1999 constitution is out of the question. 

“It is either the Federal Government take the report of the 2014 confab for consideration and enactment by the National Assembly or it organises its own national conference to collate what will come from ‘we the people of Nigeria.’ 

“Constitution-making is a serious business that should not be left to the National Assembly members alone. They have personal political interests to promote and protect.” 

Asking Nigerians to go through NASS unacceptable —Ayo Adebanjo 

Elder statesman and Afenifere leader, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, took a swipe at the government for asking Nigerians agitating for a new constitution to channel their demands through the National Assembly, saying it was unacceptable. 

Adebanjo, who spoke to Nigerian Tribune on phone, said the National Assembly is a product of a fraudulent constitution. He accused the government of being obstinate about changing the constitution, despite several calls from prominent Nigerians like former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Professor Wole Soyinka. 

“Telling us to channel our energy through the National Assembly is unacceptable because the National Assembly is a product of the fraudulent constitution. The whole country is saying they don’t want the constitution. All the struggles we are having today is as a result of this constitution. 

“Prominent people like Obasanjo, Wole Soyinka and others have called for the change of the constitution but the Federal Government is still unbending. 

“It only confirms that this government is not democratic,” Pa Adebanjo said. 

Buhari lacks solution to Nigeria’s problem —Afenifere 

In its own reaction, Afenifere berated the government for taking such position against the popular wish of the majority of Nigerians. 

According to the new secretary general of the group, Chief Sola Ebiseni, the president’s aide is living in a fool’s paradise for advising the advocates of a conference to tackle the crises besetting the country. 

“As usual, rather than use the occasion of the recent image laundering programme of the self professed APC professionals at the national secretariat of the ruling party for a sober reflection of the state of the nation, for a realistic solution to pull the nation from the brink, Garba further soiled the image of his principal on how insensitive the president could be in the face of undeniable national calamity,” he said. 

Afenifere further chided Shehu for saying Nigerians calling for restructuring are unelectable, saying “Yet, he was full of praises for organisations like Afenifere, Ohaneze Ndigbo and governors of the South-West, who are all proponents of restructuring, for not embracing secessionist agitations. 

“It was convenient for him to deliberately ignore the fact that the Southern Leaders and Middle Belt Forum and most recently the Arewa Consultative Forum and the Northern Elders’ Forum have all reached a national consensus on the imperative and inevitability of restructuring.” 

The organisation said if the National Assembly has no courage to look into the reports of the 2014 national conference and of the Nasir el-Rufai true federalism committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC), no such exercise by the National Assembly is worthwhile. 

No alternative to national confab —PANDEF 

National chairman of the PANDEF, Senator Emmanuel Ibokessien, maintained that there is no alternative to a national conference, in view of the raging protests and agitations for self-determination by ethnic nationalities in parts of the country. 

He told the Nigerian Tribune in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, that only an expanded national forum can aggregate every issue, interest and demand of Nigerians and articulate them as a framework for the restructuring of the country. “A national conference is very important now because if you look at the polity, virtually all sections of the country are clamouring for restructuring. 

“Therefore, it is after the conference that every decision reached would be channelled to the National Assembly on constitutional amendment and a referendum conducted on how to restructure the federation,” he said. 

FG’s stance insensitive —YCE 

The Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) described as insensitive, the position of the presidency on national conference. The body also chided the presidency for directing Nigerians calling for a new constitution to the National Assembly. 

Secretary General of YCE, Dr Kunle Olajide, said at present, the country is not at peace, considering the problems across the six geopolitical zones, adding that the only solution is for the government to urgently convoke a forum to discuss issues and proffer solutions. 

Olajide said one of the urgent solutions is to discard the 1999 Constitution which, he said, had kept the nation in bondage. 

“I listened to Garba Shehu’s statement. Even the blind and deaf know that this country is collapsing. The state of the nation is worrisome, frightening and the country is at the brinks. Virtually all the six zones are not at peace as if we are in a state of war. 

“It is an irresponsible, insensitive statement coming from the presidency to Nigerians and I think the people should demand an apology from him because went around this country to campaign to make promises and he has failed to fulfill these promises and they are now coming to say we should go to the National Assembly. It is rather unfortunate. 

“The Northern Elders’ Forum has repeated it severally, the Yoruba Council of Elders insist that we will not take any papers to the constitutional amendment committee of the NASS. I can’t see them restructuring themselves out of office and it has to be done,” he said. 

FG postponing the evil day —Oyedokun 

A former deputy national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Shuaibu Oyedokun, likened the government’s position on national conference to “postponing the evil day which would surely come to pass, no matter how long.” 

He said: “If the Federal Government is no longer ready as stated now, let it adjust the one we have, especially the one done at the tail end of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration which is all-encompassing. Let the government adjust it and adopt it for full implementation, instead saying what they are now telling us. 

“This is democracy; the government should listen to the voices of reasons and do the right thing,” Oyedokun said. 

FG should implement 2014 confab report —Ohanaze-Ndigbo 

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo, speaking through the deputy vice national president, Chief Demian Ogene-Okeke, called on Nigerians to agitate for restructuring of the country, just as he urged the government to implement the 2014 national confab report. 

Buhari, NASS not willing to address Nigeria’s problems —CAENCDA 

National secretary of the CAENCDA, Comrade Suleman Sukukum, said the National Assembly members lacked what it takes to address most of the national problems, because they are more inclined to the agenda of individual parties. 

“People are tired; they need an avenue to ventilate their positions so that there can be peace and development in Nigeria. We need to talk; whether the government likes it or not, the agitation will continue until the government does the right thing. This country is falling apart; there’s the need to salvage it at this material time,” he said. 

A former member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Bitrus Kaze, accused the government of becoming dictatorial, saying: “They are afraid of their shadow; though the National Assembly has the power to amend the constitution, sovereignty lies with the people, not with the government.”

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