The issue of voting formula has further polarised the ongoing
National Conference: it led to the abrupt adjournment of proceedings to
Monday next week.
A rowdy session last Tuesday on whether three-quarters or two-thirds majority votes should be the voting formula had made the conference leadership accede to advice by a delegate, Mr Fola Adeola, that the secretariat should meet with leaders of the six geopolitical zones on how to reach a consensus on the issue.
At a resumed sitting yesterday, conference deputy chairman Prof Bolaji Akinyemi announced about 50 names of delegates seen as opinion leaders across the country as the wise men that would meet with the chairman, Justice Idris Kutigi, for consultation on how to arrive
at a common ground.
The names include Chief Olu Falae, Alh. Ibrahim Coomassie, Chief Edwin Clark, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, Nduka Obaigbena, Alh. Gambo Jimeta, Tanko Yakassai and Atedo Peterside.
Kutigi thereafter adjourned proceedings from about 11am to 4pm in order to meet with the opinion leaders for consultation.
Earlier in the day, shortly after commencement of proceedings, there was a debate on whether the conference should call for memoranda from the public or not. However, Kutigi put the issue to question to which delegates overwhelmingly agreed in a voice vote that the memoranda should be received within a period of two weeks only.
At the resumed sitting by 4pm, Kutigi berated some delegates over their conduct during the previous sittings of the conference as shown by television stations.
“We don’t want a repetition of what happened yesterday. It was on live television, very shameful,” he said.
A few minutes into the proceedings, Kutigi announced another adjournment, the second in a day, to Monday, March 31, 2014. He said the adjournment became necessary in view of the ongoing consultation with the opinion leaders.
We didn’t marginalise Muslims – Jonathan
President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday told a delegation of the Nigeria Supreme Council on Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) that he did not deliberately marginalize the Muslims as reported in the media.
The president who spoke when he met behind closed door with the NSCIA delegation led by Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar and secretary-general of the Council Prof. Ishaq Oloyede restated that his administration was committed to fairness and justice to all Nigerians, irrespective of religious and ethnic affiliation.
Speaking to State House correspondents after the meeting, Oloyede hinted at the president’s position that he did not deliberately marginalize the Muslims. He said that Jonathan asked the delegation to convey to the Muslim faithful in the country that, while there was no deliberate intention to marginalise any group whatsoever, nothing could be farther from the truth than the purported lopsided composition of delegation to the ongoing National Conference. .
The NSCIA scribe said the delegation was at the presidential villa to consult and complain to the president on the feeling of marginalisation of the Muslims as the majority of delegates to the National Conference were Christians.
He said, “We are happy we consulted with him, and he has given us reasons to re-assure the Muslims that Muslims in Nigeria are not deliberately marginalized. He has asked us to convey the feelings of the government, the genuineness of the government, the fairness of the government to the entire populace.
“The president said that if there are issues that are not as they ought to be, they were not definitely deliberate. We want to believe what Mr President told us from his mind, but we also want to believe that it is proper to protest. It is also proper to assume that a leader will always be just even if there are mistakes thereafter. We just felt that we must convey the feelings of the Muslims in Nigeria to Mr President and he has given us his words to re-assure the Muslim community that he is a genuine and committed Christian who will not be unjust to others.”
Asked whether such feeling of marginalisation was necessary, Oloyede said, “Maybe because you are not a Muslim; if you are a Muslim you will know the feelings of the Muslims presently about the composition of the National Conference.”
The apex body of Muslims in the North, Jama’atul Nasril Islam, JNI, also led by the Sultan had alleged that the selection of delegates to the conference was lopsided in favour of Christians.
The JNI’s secretary-general, Dr Khalid Aliyu, had at a news conference in Kaduna on March 20 alleged that “the process of selecting delegates to the conference was contrary to the principle of democracy as the majority of delegates to the conference were Christians”.
A rowdy session last Tuesday on whether three-quarters or two-thirds majority votes should be the voting formula had made the conference leadership accede to advice by a delegate, Mr Fola Adeola, that the secretariat should meet with leaders of the six geopolitical zones on how to reach a consensus on the issue.
At a resumed sitting yesterday, conference deputy chairman Prof Bolaji Akinyemi announced about 50 names of delegates seen as opinion leaders across the country as the wise men that would meet with the chairman, Justice Idris Kutigi, for consultation on how to arrive
at a common ground.
The names include Chief Olu Falae, Alh. Ibrahim Coomassie, Chief Edwin Clark, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, Nduka Obaigbena, Alh. Gambo Jimeta, Tanko Yakassai and Atedo Peterside.
Kutigi thereafter adjourned proceedings from about 11am to 4pm in order to meet with the opinion leaders for consultation.
Earlier in the day, shortly after commencement of proceedings, there was a debate on whether the conference should call for memoranda from the public or not. However, Kutigi put the issue to question to which delegates overwhelmingly agreed in a voice vote that the memoranda should be received within a period of two weeks only.
At the resumed sitting by 4pm, Kutigi berated some delegates over their conduct during the previous sittings of the conference as shown by television stations.
“We don’t want a repetition of what happened yesterday. It was on live television, very shameful,” he said.
A few minutes into the proceedings, Kutigi announced another adjournment, the second in a day, to Monday, March 31, 2014. He said the adjournment became necessary in view of the ongoing consultation with the opinion leaders.
We didn’t marginalise Muslims – Jonathan
President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday told a delegation of the Nigeria Supreme Council on Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) that he did not deliberately marginalize the Muslims as reported in the media.
The president who spoke when he met behind closed door with the NSCIA delegation led by Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar and secretary-general of the Council Prof. Ishaq Oloyede restated that his administration was committed to fairness and justice to all Nigerians, irrespective of religious and ethnic affiliation.
Speaking to State House correspondents after the meeting, Oloyede hinted at the president’s position that he did not deliberately marginalize the Muslims. He said that Jonathan asked the delegation to convey to the Muslim faithful in the country that, while there was no deliberate intention to marginalise any group whatsoever, nothing could be farther from the truth than the purported lopsided composition of delegation to the ongoing National Conference. .
The NSCIA scribe said the delegation was at the presidential villa to consult and complain to the president on the feeling of marginalisation of the Muslims as the majority of delegates to the National Conference were Christians.
He said, “We are happy we consulted with him, and he has given us reasons to re-assure the Muslims that Muslims in Nigeria are not deliberately marginalized. He has asked us to convey the feelings of the government, the genuineness of the government, the fairness of the government to the entire populace.
“The president said that if there are issues that are not as they ought to be, they were not definitely deliberate. We want to believe what Mr President told us from his mind, but we also want to believe that it is proper to protest. It is also proper to assume that a leader will always be just even if there are mistakes thereafter. We just felt that we must convey the feelings of the Muslims in Nigeria to Mr President and he has given us his words to re-assure the Muslim community that he is a genuine and committed Christian who will not be unjust to others.”
Asked whether such feeling of marginalisation was necessary, Oloyede said, “Maybe because you are not a Muslim; if you are a Muslim you will know the feelings of the Muslims presently about the composition of the National Conference.”
The apex body of Muslims in the North, Jama’atul Nasril Islam, JNI, also led by the Sultan had alleged that the selection of delegates to the conference was lopsided in favour of Christians.
The JNI’s secretary-general, Dr Khalid Aliyu, had at a news conference in Kaduna on March 20 alleged that “the process of selecting delegates to the conference was contrary to the principle of democracy as the majority of delegates to the conference were Christians”.
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