A committee of the National Conference holding in Abuja on Wednesday barred journalists from covering its proceedings.
The conference committee on Devolution of Powers told journalists that they were only allowed to cover the committee’s opening ceremony and not its proceedings.
However, the conference Assistant Secretary, Mr James Akpandem, intervened, saying journalists are allowed to cover the entire proceedings of the committees.
It was the second day of the six days earmarked for committees to complete their work and they are going about it at different centres.
As the proceedings started, committees broke into smaller groups to get more work done while others, like the Committee on Immigration and related matters invited resource people to brief them.
The committee held discussion on resource control, with a Lagos State delegate, Anthony Adefuye, requesting for a special consideration on the custom duty received from ports in the state.
The committees are also looking at the porous nature of the Nigerian border, the judicial system and the devolution of powers, issues that a delegate, Goddy Uwazurike, stressed were not new to Nigerians.
Some of the delegates expressed fears that the committees would not complete their tasks within the six days given to them.
They are, however, optimistic that they will do their best within the time.
The conference has three months to deliberate on crucial issues threatening the country’s unity and security.
At the opening of the conference, the Nigerian President had asked the delegates to put aside ethnicity, religious differences and discuss issues that would make the country’s future better.