Again, Nwabueze Asks Jonathan to Shelve 2015 Ambition

 President Goodluck Jonathan

Renowned constitutional lawyer, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, yesterday in Enugu reiterated his advice to President Goodluck Jonathan to jettison his rumoured bid to seek for a second term in office, in view of the precarious situation in the country, insisting that it was only on this basis that the president could become a great hero of democracy.

This is coming as Ndigbo of the South-east Nigeria also yesterday wrote the president asking him to reject the recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC) for the proposed National Conference led by Senator Femi Okunroumu, insisting that the type of conference the committee recommended was completely different from what Nigerians demanded.

Briefing newsmen on the activities of the Concerned Igbo Leaders of Thought which he leads, Nwabueze said history would judge the president right if he ensures the return of peace and unity to the country, noting that it would be difficult for the president to be mobilising Nigerians for a National Conference and at the same time for his rumoured second term bid.

“I’ve advised him to please, please try and be a hero and a statesman and forget 2015, that the day you announce to Nigerians that you are not going to stand for election in 2015, you will become an instant hero.

“You cannot combine two things at the same time. We have a national conference which is clearly a mobilisation for national transformation without bloody revolution and of course the general election.

“I said to him you have to mobilise Nigerians for this transformation through the conference and you are also planning to mobilise the people to vote for you in 2015. You can’t combine the two. I stand by my advice. I will continue to stand by my advice,” the elder statesman noted.

On the proposed conference, Nwabueze, who refused to make the letter to the president public, said it was for the sake of courtesy.

He explained that the letter was signed by respected elders from all the states of the South-east zone on behalf of Ndigbo, adding that what they were canvassing for had already received the endorsement of the Yoruba, the people of the South-south zone, as well as the Ethnic Nationalities’ Movement of Nigeria (ENMN).

He said the letter by Ndigbo to the president was premised on the fact that the PAC had deviated from the recommendations of The Patriots in their memorandum presented to the president during their visit of August 29, 2013 particularly the elucidation on the fundamental attributes of the type of conference being demanded.

He said they made three basic demands which included the adoption of an entirely new constitution for the country, the subjection of the outcome of the conference to a referendum, and securing the enabling law from the National Assembly authorising the conference. He said PAC completely overlooked the demands.

“We want a conference that will adopt a suitable new constitution embodying re-negotiated terms and conditions on which the diverse ethnic groups comprised in Nigeria should live together in peace, security, progress, prosperity, general wellbeing and unity as one country under a central government, the result of whose deliberations will be integrated into the existing 1999 constitution.

“The conference we are demanding is the conference for the adoption of a new constitution for Nigeria not the one whose deliberations will be integrated. The 1999 constitution is one only in a loose sense not in a strict sense of the original act of the people.

“The original act of the people is that we have never had a constitution right from the colonial era. After all these years, we said the people of the country as a sovereign people should be given the opportunity to adapt a constitution for themselves.

“Particularly for the Igbos, we need to sit with other ethnic groups to renegotiate the terms and conditions upon which we shall live together. The conference of ethnic nationalities making up the Nigerian state as a pivot or focal point, not a conference of individual Nigerians as autonomous entities or of interest groups,” he said.

The Igbo leader also cautioned the National Assembly against attempting to reject the executive bill asking for the conference to be authorised, noting that such could result in a major crisis in the country

He, however, ruled out the possibility of the country breaking up as a result of the protests that might trail such action.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has said it will only support the proposed National Conference on the condition that the report of the conference would not be altered by the government and would be validated by Nigerians through a referendum.

The president of the NBA, Okey Wali (SAN) gave the association's position yesterday in Abuja during the inauguration of a 15-man NBA Committee on National Conference and Constitutional Review.

Wali also expressed disappointment at Jonathan's refusal to receive the minority report while receiving the report of PAC.

He described the action of the president as undemocratic, saying, "We hope that this does not represent signs of things to come."

The NBA advised the president to call for and receive the minority report prepared by Solomon Asemota (SAN), a member of PAC.

He said: “Please make no mistakes, this is not about Asemota being a member of the Bar, it is about conforming with the true tenets of democracy. Mr. President and indeed the people of this country may very well find the minority report useful and resourceful.

“Permit me to state that the NBA shall only support a conference whose    report shall not be altered by the government, but whose report shall be final, binding, and validated by Nigerians through a referendum.

“Referendum, regardless of whatever modalities on arriving at representation at the conference, would give Nigerians of voting age, a right to be part of the process. Nobody that means well should be afraid of the voice of the people, if indeed, the whole exercise is in the interest of the people.

“By the provisions of S.14 (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria and the decision of the committee must be subject to a referendum.”

He recalled the president's promise to the nation on October 1, 2013, where he said that the National Conferene was in response to the yearnings of the people.

He said since PAC had submitted its recommendations on how to go about setting up the National Conference, Jonathan should set the ball rolling as soon as possible.
“The president had in fact, while receiving the report of the committee, stated that this would take off in the first quarter of this year 2014", he  said.

While charging the association's committee on the conference to take its work very seriously, he said: "The central issue therefore, is not only whether there is a constitution but also whether or not the constitution is a people's constitution.

"The assignment of your committee therefore, is to very quickly have consultations with members of the Bar, come up with the positions of the NBA on issues affecting the setting up and working of the conference, and issues to be addressed at the National Conference."

Giving them five areas – representation, political structure, federalism, social security and institutions consolidating democracy – on which to focus, Wali said the NBA Committee would be expected to articulate the association’s position firstly on the report of PAC and the National Dialogue/Conference proper.

The NBA’s position will be presented at the Proposed National Conference.
The committee has Chief Awa Kalu (SAN ) as its chairman, while   Senator Abubakar Sodangi is the alternate chair.