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National Dialogue: Afenifere Demands Publication Of Committee Report

Afenifere Renewal Group has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to immediately publicise the recommendations of the Presidential Committee on National Dialogue, which was submitted on … Continue reading National Dialogue: Afenifere Demands Publication Of Committee Report


Afenifere Renewal Group has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to immediately publicise the recommendations of the Presidential Committee on National Dialogue, which was submitted on Wednesday.

In a press statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Kunle Famoriyo, the group said that making the report a public document is the only way President Jonathan’s wish to convoke the conference can continue to enjoy the support of Nigerians.

“Nigerians have supported the call for the conference and participated fully in the public sessions. Many travelled far distances to participate in the conference. One of them was the late Babarinde Omojola, who never returned home but died after making his presentation in Akure,” the statement said.

It also said “The only way to respect and honour the sacrifices Nigerians made towards the successful completion of the committee’s task is to publicise the report.”

“If President Jonathan truly has no personal interest, as he claimed, in the conference and he is prepared to allow the will of Nigerians to prevail, the first thing to do is to release the report to the public as a feedback process.” It noted.

The statement further insisted that the “Afenifere Renewal Group will not be railroaded into a national conference, whose modalities and terms are skewed against the interest of our people. Certainly, we will only support the proposed conference for as long as it is transparently planned.”

“Our demand is to see Nigeria restructured into a truly federalist country with viable and autonomous federating units. We are convinced this is what majority of Nigerians want, as our wide consultations have shown. We also believe that the conference, when finally convoked, will succeed and produce desired outcome only if it is a conference of Nigerian ethnic nationalities.” It said.

The group “therefore pleads with President Jonathan not to put the cart before the horse as he announced that he has instructed the Minister of Finance to make budgetary preparation for the conference.”

Concluding that “It is good to make financial preparation for the conference but we insist that the first thing to do after the submission of the report is to make its content public. We wish to reiterate our earlier advice to President Jonathan that the outcome of this proposed conference will either make or mar his tenure.”