Vice-Chairman, National Conference, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi
There was perplexity at the National Conference in Abuja on Monday as delegates incriminated some groups within the conference of drafting a report which they verbally expressed was waiting to be imposed on the conference.
It was alleged that the100-page document, which stipulated alleged accedences reached and position adopted in the yet-to-be concluded conference, was already circulated to delegates.
Trouble indeed commenced when a delegate representing the Nigeria Guild of Editors, Mallam Kawu Modibo, raised the issue on the floor, asking that the Deputy Chairman of the conference, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, verbalize on the matter.
Akinyemi was alleged to have amassed some delegates and lobbied them on the desideratum to adopt a fresh constitution.
Rather than verbalize on the issue, Akinyemi, a former Minister of External Affairs, verbally expressed he would not verbalize until there were many delegates in attendance.
With this, the Chairman of the conference, retired Justice Idris Kutigi concurred and proceeded with the reading and adoption of proceedings of the conference for last Thursday, which lasted for more than two hours.
After this, Modibo raised the matter again and injuctively authorized that Akinyemi should clear his designation.
He verbally expressed the document and the innuendos in the document was that the workings of the conference had been predetermined.
Two other delegates, Sergeant Awuse and Anayo Nebe dissented with Modibo.
They asked Akinyemi to ignore Modibbo, integrating that newspaper publications, which reported the matter, should not be utilized as a yardstick for the workings of the conference.
While Awuse verbally expressed enemies would always do something to affect the integrity of the conference, Nebe on his component verbalized that the report must be ignored.
“The deputy chairman is being blackmailed. Those who sponsored the publications are in this conference. These are the people who want to scuttle the conference. There are more people in this conference who are opposed to the conference and are seated here. The deputy chairman has no explication to give,” Nebe integrated.
Amidst shout of “no, no, sit down”, by the delegates, two other delegates, Haruna Yerima and Senator Ibrahim Ida insisted that Akinyemi must verbalize on the issue.
Yerima, from Borno State, verbally expressed, “We need to verbalize on the matter. Akinyemi’s name has been mentioned here and he has been inculpated of lobbying delegates. It is worrisome. You need to clear your designation now or each and everybody would ken that you have been calling people furtively and enticing them.
“Morality demands that you either gainsay or accept this allegation. It is not in your interest to keep quite because we ken you are a man of high integrity.”
At this junction, Kutigi, in the midst of the perplexity, called on a delegate, Chief Mike Ahamba (SAN), to move a kineticism.
Ahamba moved a kineticism that notionally theoretical issues be discountenanced by the conference, but a counter kineticism was moved by a former Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani, verbally expressing that Akinyemi must be asked to clear his denomination on the issues.
In his verbalization, Akinyemi verbalized it was true that he met some delegates, integrating that the aim was to always avert rancourous debates on the floor.
Akinyemi verbally expressed, “This is a simple matter for me to address. Since the commencement of this conference and I have sensed that there are conflicts and I have taken time to meet with the people to reach out to people rather than to have a conflict.
“Yes, there are people who have verbally expressed they are here to indite an incipient constitution and there are others who have verbalized they are not. I have approached those who are here to indite a constitution and they expounded what they designated.
“I have approached (Ibrahim) Kumasi and (Prof. Ibrahim) Gambari, my colleague to verbalize with them and even Prof. Anwal as well. I have met them.”
He verbalized he decided to verbalize with the groups in order to evade a breakdown of communication and that there was the desideratum for perpetual comity among the delegates when taking decision.
After he verbalized, a former Inspector General of Police, who is withal the Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomasie, withal opened up.
Kumasi concurred that the deputy chairman of the conference met him.
The former IGP verbally expressed, “Prof. Akinyemi asked me to meet with him last Monday that we should meet on the constitution. He asked me to come with few people. I told him that I customarily expeditious on Mondays.
“I asked Dr. Iyorcha Ayu to lead about four others to meet Akinyemi. I sent another note to him that I have not auricularly discerned from him since he verbally expressed he was going to meet me but that I have raised a team to meet him. He verbally expressed we should utilize a referendum to accede on the constitution.
“The AIT authoritative figure, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, has been organising meetings with northern and southern delegates. Gambari told me that a meeting comprising people like Chief Edwin Clark, Prof. Anya, O. Anya, others and I should meet at the lobby and that we should establish a technical committee to avail the conference.
“I asked them to stop abusing northerners at the meeting because they were given impression that we were not with them.
“Clark verbalized that he too had been abused by a northern governor and I asked him whether that was an answer to the issue I raised. He didn’t reply me.
“They verbalized 18 people should meet; three from each zone. I was told that an incipient constitution has been indited on Thursday and Raymond Dokpesi handed over an incipient constitution to me.
“I verbalized that from that day, northern delegates would not attend such meeting again. They even engendered states.”
At this point, Dokpesi sprang to his feet and verbally expressed it was absolutely true that “Gambari and I convened the National Consensus Bridge Group.
“We have been meeting conventionally with the aim of arriving at consensus on issues. From discussions so far, it was glaring that we were going to have quandaries and challenges with the last report and therefore there was the desideratum to build consensus.
“This was why we have Clark, Ike Nwachukwu, Chief Olu Falae, and Prof. Jerry Gana represented the North, at a meeting.
“These people nominated three persons from each zone and I was going to be the 19th person to be the convener.”
Kutigi verbally expressed from all the explications offered, it was pellucid that the leadership of the conference kenned nothing about the document in question.
He verbally expressed while delegates were in liberty to meet and discuss issues of interest regarding the conference, “If you optate to do anything for yourselves, please do so but don’t include us.”
