National Confab submits Report to the Presidency

Remarks by
His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR
On the
Occasion of the Submission of the National Conference Report

President Jonathan and Justice Idris Kutigi

Thursday 21st August, 2014
PROTOCOLS
1.              Mr Chairman, very distinguished delegates, it is with all gladness that I address you this day. After nearly five months endeavour to find the appropriate verb for the noun of our country within the syntax of human experience, you have brought to a grateful Nation, the report of the 2014 National Conference.
2.              I want to congratulate the Chairman and his able team, the Delegates, all Nigerians and indeed everyone who has contributed one way or the other to the successful convocation and conclusion of the Conference.

Confab endorses creation of Ijebu, Aba, 17 other states …supports rotation of presidency among zones

THE National Conference on Thursday voted for the creation of 18 more states in the country.

The creation of new states was one of the decisions taken by the delegates at their plenary while considering the report of the Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government.

Apart from the 18 new states proposed, the conference said a separate state-yet-to-be named should be carved out of the South-East to bring the number of the states in the zone to six.

National Confab votes for removal of Immunity Clause from Constitution

• Says privatisation exercise lacks transparency
• Fashola tasks N’Assembly on changes to electoral laws

THE ongoing National Conference yesterday voted overwhelmingly for the removal of immunity clause from the constitution.

  As Conference Committee, Vice Chairman Bolaji Akinyemi, read out the recommendation from the committee report, he was informed by some of the delegates that a similar recommendation had been made earlier. However, after searching for the said proposal supposedly made earlier, it was discovered that it was not considered.

Lamido Adamawa’s condition for 100% resource control: We ‘ll take ownership of Abuja lands and you ‘ll pay rent

LESS than two weeks after his comment that he would lead his people to join the Republic of Cameroon if Nigeria disintegrates generated furore in the polity, the Lamido of Adamawa, Dr Muhammadu Barkindo Mustapha, again, told southern resource control agitators to be ready to forfeit their land in all parts of the North, especially Abuja, if their aspiration sailed through.

Lamido Adamawa, Alhaji Muhammadu Barkindo Mustapha

This is even as he warned against granting autonomy to ethnic nationalities in the country.
Speaking yesterday on the inaugural speech of President Goodluck Jonathan to the National Conference, Dr Mustapha, who is at the conference on the platform of National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria, also said monarchs should be allowed to function the way they are now and should not be given new roles in the new constitution. This is contrary to the views of his colleagues on the matter.

Photo Of Emaciated Dora Akunyili Sparks Internet Frenzy

A photo showing an emaciated former Minister of Information, Professor Dora Akunyili, today sparked a major frenzy on social media platforms, forcing her to issue a statement on her Facebook page to rebut reports she is seriously sick, out of the country and needing prayers.

“This story is baseless, unfounded and the handiwork of mischief makers,” the outspoken ex-Director General of the National Agency for Foods and Drug Administration wrote, calling for it to be disregarded and discarded in its entirety.  “As every informed Nigerian knows, I am a Delegate to the National Conference currently holding in Abuja. I was duly accredited as a Delegate and I am currently in attendance at the National Judicial Institute, Abuja, venue of the conference.”

President Jonathan inaugurates National Conference

Remarks by
His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR
At the
Inauguration of the National Conference
Monday, 17th March, 2014
PROTOCOLS
1.          I am delighted to welcome you all to the inauguration of this historic National Conference which promises to be another significant landmark in our efforts to strengthen national unity and consolidate democratic governance in our beloved country.
2.          I also believe that this National Conference is coming at a very appropriate time. Having just celebrated the first centenary of our country, the most compelling task before us, as we move ahead and contemplate what our nation will be at the end of its second century, is to lay a much stronger foundation for faster development.

Kudos, Knocks as National Conference begins Monday

  This is coming about five-and-half months after he approved the membership and terms of reference of an Advisory Committee on National Dialogue headed by Dr. Femi Okurounmu. MONDAY, what may go down in history as one of the landmark achievements of the Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Administration, the National Conference, will be inaugurated by the President himself. That the inauguration is taking place can be interpreted to mean that, despite protests, some of them quite loud, the Federal Government intends to push the National Conference through, hoping fervently that in the end, it would turn out to have been in the best interest of Nigeria.

Bakare says he won’t receive allowance

Bakare, representing Ogun State at the conference, said he made the decision not to collect the money to be paid to delegates by the Federal Government in order to dispel any speculation that his motivation for accepting to take part in the conference was material.Serving Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has said that he will not partake of the N12m to be paid to each delegate to the three-month National Conference to be inaugurated by President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday (today).

Each of the 492 delegates to the National Conference would be paid N4m per month for the three month duration and this has been the subject of controversy with some Nigerians condemning the amount to be spent.

FG adjusts confab delegates’ list, drops Afe Babalola

The Federal Government on Thursday made some changes to the list of delegates to the national conference, which is scheduled to begin on Monday, March 17, 2014.

But the number of delegates to the conference that is holding in Abuja still remains the initial 492.

There have been protests by some ethnic minorities, religious interests and groups over their alleged marginalisation and exclusion by the government.