Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State has described the proposed national conference as a big joke and a waste of time.
Elechi, who is one of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s allies, stated this on Friday in Ikwo when founding fathers of the state paid him Christmas homage.
He described the conference as a distraction to Jonathan as the general elections approached.
The founding fathers had told the Governor that they wanted to know the modalities of selecting delegates from the state and issues that should form their collective stand.
But to their greatest surprise, the governor stressed that he would not participate in the exercise.
Elechi had earlier lauded the initiative and urged Nigerians to avail themselves the opportunity of contributing meaningfully on the conference so that any grievances would be addressed.
But in a u-turn, he said that he was sceptical about the conference as it would not achieve anything since the constitution had empowered the National Assembly to make laws for the country.
The governor noted that the referendum cannot supersede the deliberations of the National Assembly but referred its advocators to revisit the colloquium by Former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005, as it had the participations of all segments of human life.
He also noted that in the colloquium, far reaching decisions were reached but National Assembly thrashed them because of the third term ambition of Obasanjo.
Though, Elechi said he would consult his constituents to deliberate on whether or not to participate in the conference, he noted that if they eventually chose to participate, he would distance himself and be an on-looker.
He said “The National conference to me is a big joke, waste of time and a distraction to Goodluck Jonathan. I’m sceptical about it. It will not achieve anything.
“The constitution gives the National Assembly the power to makes laws and the referendum cannot over ride the deliberations of the National Assembly.
“The best was the colloquium by former President Obasanjo in 2005. There, all segments of national life talked and reached far-reaching decisions. I will still consult my people but if at the end they decided to participate, i will not stop anybody but i will distance myself and an on-looker”.
“The National Assembly over ruled it due to the third term ambitions of Obasanjo. We should revisit that colloquium and the recommendations reached”, he stated.
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