The face-off between northern and southern delegates over voting benchmark yesterday forced the leadership of the National Conference to adjourn plenary till Monday. Announcing the postponement, Chairman, Justice Idris Kutigi, said the long adjournment became necessary to enable the 50-man committee selected by his leadership to harmonize positions on the voting benchmark. Kutigi had soon after commencement of proceedings yesterday suspended the session and announced that committee members were drawn from the nation’s six geo-political zones to liaise with officers of the conference to find a solution to the disagreement over voting benchmark. The conference has been polarized since Monday over the issue. Last Tuesday, some delegates almost came to fisticuffs as debate over the matter raged. While majority of delegates from the North insisted on voting benchmark of 75 per cent, their southern counterparts opted for 25. Northern delegates said that President Goodluck Jonathan, had in his address to the delegates on March 17, suggested that decisions be arrived at on consensus basis, or by 75 per cent approval. However, southern delegates, sensing such would be difficult to achieve, asked that it be reduced to 25. Southern delegates said President Jonathan’s suggestion is not sacrosanct and can be reviewed by the delegates. But northern delegates said shifting grounds would be in disobedience to the President. Efforts by Justice Kutigi to defer further debate and decision on the issue failed as delegates insisted that the rules of procedure for the conference cannot be adopted till the voting benchmark issue is resolved. Almost losing the house to delegates who defied his order calls and continually became unruly, Kutigi later adjourned plenary to Wednesday after tempers had calmed down. When the conference resumed yesterday, Deputy Chairman of the conference, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, announced the formation of a committee of 50 members to assist the leadership to resolve the issue. The committee was made up of 50 delegates. It included leaders of zonal delegations, some elder statesmen, some trade union leaders, and some prominent Nigerians specifically selected by the conference leadership. Following the announcement, the morning session was adjourned till 4pm. When plenary resumed at 4pm, Kutigi stunned delegates when he postponed the session till Monday next week. Kutigi said: “I just have a little explanation to make. When we adjourned in the morning, some of the delegates that we announced their names and us went over the other building to have a meeting. That meeting continued until lunch time. We have done a lot of progress. What I want to inform you is that we may not proceed with this meeting now. We have to adjourn because we have to go back and continue our meeting. When we are done, the people we selected will come back to brief you as soon as we finish.”
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 00:13:37 +0000
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