WITH 13 reports and documents
of past constitutional amendment exercises in their kitty, the 492 delegates to
the on-going National Conference are ready for business as they resume today.
Fresh from their five-day
recess, they are also expected to discuss clause by clause the 28-page Rules of
Procedure entitled: “National Conference Procedure Rules, 2014′’, dated March
10, 2014 and agree or effect changes through two-third majority. Discussion of
the rules will pave the way for effective dialogue to take off.
According to a statement
issued yesterday by Conference Assistant Secretary, Media and Communications,
Akpandem James, the documents supplied the delegates by the Secretariat
include: Report of the Constitutional Conference, 1995 (Containing the Draft
Constitution) Vol 1; Report of the Constitutional Conference, 1995
(Containing the Resolutions and Recommendations) Vol 2; Report of the Political
Bureau (March, 1987); Main Report of the National Political Reform Conference,
2005; Implementation Guide of the National Political Reform Conference,
2005; Report of the Presidential Committee on Review of Outstanding Issues from
Recent Constitutional Conferences (Main Report) July 2012; and Report of the
Presidential Committee on Review of Outstanding Issues from Recent
Constitutional Conferences (Executive Summary) July 2012.
Others are Policy
Recommendations of the Presidential Committee to Review Outstanding issues from
recent Constitutional Conferences July 2012; President Goodluck
Jonathan’s Speech on the occasion of Nigeria’s centenary celebrations;
President Goodluck Jonathan’s Speech at the inauguration of the National
Dialogue Advisory Committee (Monday 7th October, 2013); President Goodluck
Jonathan’s Speech at the inauguration of the 2014 National Conference of the
People of Nigeria (Monday 17th March, 2014; The Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria 1999 and the Draft Rules of Procedure for the Conference.
Said Akpandem: “Delegates to
the National Conference will tomorrow (today), Monday March 24, 2014, resume
plenary sitting after a short adjournment, which was to allow them study the
various working documents that were supplied (to them) on Tuesday, March 18,
2014, shortly after the inaugural sitting. Two more documents – The draft Rules
of Procedure for the Conference and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria 1999 were also supplied to the delegates on Thursday, March 20, 2014.’’