National Conference: Jonathan may appoint delegates for APC states

The Federal Government yesterday said President Goodluck Jonathan will appoint delegates for states whose governors fail to nominate representatives for the coming National Conference.Secretary to the Government of the Federation Anyim Pius Anyim said this at a news conference in Abuja, while unveiling the modalities and composition of the conference.The All Progressives Congress (APC), which […]

The Federal Government yesterday said President Goodluck Jonathan will appoint delegates for states whose governors fail to nominate representatives for the coming National Conference.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation Anyim Pius Anyim said this at a news conference in Abuja, while unveiling the modalities and composition of the conference.
The All Progressives Congress (APC), which controls 16 states, had said it would not participate.
Anyim yesterday said out of the total 492 participants, state governors are to nominate 3 each and “where the state governor fails to nominate, the President shall nominate the required number from the state.”
He did not specifically refer to the APC, but said when asked by journalists that the government had not received any formal boycott notification from the party.
National APC leader Bola Tinubu had denounced the conference as a “Greek gift and public deception” by Jonathan’s administration, and said APC-controlled states would not participate in it.
When contacted by Daily Trust for comments yesterday, APC spokesman Lai Mohammed said the party would make its position known after studying the guidelines for the nomination of delegates.
In October, President Jonathan announced plans to convene the conference to discuss the nation’s problems and offer solutions. He then set up a Presidential Advisory Committee headed by Mr. Femi Okorounmu with Dr. Akilu Indabawa as secretary, which submitted its report in December.
Anyim yesterday announced the committee’s recommendations which government accepted to include the nomination of delegates by stakeholders and freedom for the conference to “discuss any subject matter, except the indivisibility and indissolubility of Nigeria as a nation, therefore the unity of Nigeria is non-negotiable.”
Decisions by the conference, which would run for three months, would be by consensus and where this fails, the support of 75 per cent majority is required.
Of the total delegates, President Jonathan would nominate the chairman, deputy chairman and secretary, 1 elder statesman from each state and the FCT, as well as six representatives for the Judiciary, making a total of 46 members.
The Federal Government, for its part, will nominate 26 delegates, of which at least six would be women and six would be from among “outstanding youths and role models.”
Various stakeholders and interest groups are to nominate delegates between yesterday and February 20. Anyim said the conference would be concluded before the general elections scheduled for February 2015.
Among stakeholders to make nominations are retired military officers, retired police officers, retired State Security Service/National Intelligence Agency officers, and retired civil servants each of who have one slot per geo-political zone.
There will be two traditional rulers per zone and from the FCT, 12 representatives for the Nigeria Labour Congress, 12 for the Trades Union Congress, and 12 for the organised private sector.
The National Youth Council of Nigeria and National Association of Nigerian Students will each nominate one delegate from each geopolitical zone; National Council for Women Societies, two delegates from each zone; Market Women Association, one from each zone; while FIDA, NAWOJ and WINBIZ each has two delegates.              
All political parties with representation in the National Assembly, namely PDP, APC, APGA, Accord Party and Labour Party, will nominate two delegates each; stakeholders from the Muslim and Christian faiths, six delegates each; civil society organisations, 24 delegates; Nigerians in Diaspora, two delegates each from Europe, America, Africa, Asia and Middle East; while people living with disabilities will nominate one delegate per zone.
Others are Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (2 delegates), Nigerian Guild of Editors (2), Nigerian Union of Journalists (2) and Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (2).
Socio-political/cultural and ethnic nationality groups will nominate 15 delegates per zone, reflecting ethnic and religious diversities.
Professional bodies, namely NBA, NSE, CIB, NMA, NIM, NIA, ICAN, ANAN, NIPR, AAPN, NIESV, Nigerian Environmental Society and Nigeria Economic Society, Academy of Science, Academy of Engineering, Academy of Education, Academy of Letters and the Academy of Social Sciences, will nominate one delegate each.
Also, Former governors, Senators Forum, House of Representatives Forum, Association of Former Speakers, and former LGA chairmen will each nominate one delegate per zone.
Anyim also said the conference “shall advise the government on the legal framework, legal procedures and options for integrating the decisions and outcomes of the national conference into the Constitution and laws of the country.”
Meanwhile, human rights lawyers yesterday criticised suggestions that President Jonathan will nominate delegates for states that failed to participate in the National Conference.
Esther Uzoma of the Proactive Gender Initiative said it would be out of place to impose representation on states that chose to boycott the event.
She questioned how truly representative such a conference would be when slots for states’ delegates are filled with Federal nominees.
Also, Peter Odia of the Human Rights and Accountability Initiative (HURAIN) said nominating delegates on behalf states that do not wish to participate “will affect the credibility and acceptability of the conference itself.”  
He said while the President has the powers to convoke a national conference, he does not have express powers to nominate delegates to it.
Abdul Mahmud, the President of the Public Interest Lawyers League (PILL), said while there was no serious legal issue with the President nominating delegates for opposition states, but the integrity of the conference would be questioned.
“There would be (legal issues) if there was a law backing it and the law provides for how nomination, appointment and election of participants are made to the national conference,” he said.