Confab: ACF faults Adebanjo over anti-North comment

The northern socio-political organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum, has faulted elder statesman and a leader of Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, over his statement that northern interest will not allow President Muhammadu Buhari to implement the recommendations of the National Conference.

The National Conference was set up by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014.

Adebanjo had said in a newspaper interview, “My own view and the view of Afenifere are that a northerner will not be so disposed to changing the constitution because they are the beneficiaries of what we are complaining about. Let them disprove that.

“About 500 distinguished Nigerians recommended a new constitution unanimously and nobody has come out to say what we did there was wrong.”

But the ACF believed the elder statesman’s comments was offensive and uncharitable.

In a statement in Kaduna yesterday, the ACF, through its National Publicity Secretary of ACF, Alhaji Muhamma Ibrahim, said though the North participated in the conference, the National Conference was constituted to favour the South over the North.

The Forum noted that while the region has the highest population in terms human beings and land mass, the South had the higher number of delegates, describing this ‘lopsided’ arrangement as a gross injustice meted out to the region.

“The selection process of delegates by President Jonathan’s government to the confab made the North, that has a population of 75,268,686 people (NPC 2006) with a land mass of 730,885 square km (80%) as a minority with 189 delegates while the South with a population of 65,151,458 people (NPC 2006) with a land mass of 193,438 square km (20%) as a majority with 303 delegates.

“Despite this glaring injustice and disadvantage, the North, as a region did not only participate in the overall national interest of Nigeria but also stabilised the conference on crucial issues of national unity. The 2014 Confab was therefore not a platform for constitution making and did not unanimously recommend a new constitution for Nigeria as claimed by Chief Adebanjo.

“The learned chief knows better the process of constitution making and certainly the delegates to the  2014 Confab did not qualify for such process, as they were not elected as representatives of the people but selected or nominated by government and interest groups.

“The delegates therefore did not have the legitimate mandate of the people to draft or recommend a new constitution for Nigeria and did not even do so.”

It wondered whether it was the fault of the North that Jonathan, who had ample time and opportunity to implement the recommendation of the confab, failed to do so.

“The 2014 Confab, in which ACF fully participated made about 600 far-reaching recommendations on policy issues, legal and constitutional amendments to the 1999 constitution as amended and submitted the report to the former president on August 21, 2014 and not a new constitution.

“President Jonathan had ample opportunity to implement some of the policy issues or even forward some of the recommendations that require legal and constitutional amendments to the National Assembly, but did not do so.

“Was it the northern interest that stopped him, being a southerner or a southern interest? The Confab report, being a public property, is subject to the usual due process of implementation through the three arms of government and not singularly by President Buhari as Chief Adebanjo is canvassing.”