The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference, Senator Femi Okorounmu,on Tuesday debunked claims that the government had promised to convene a conference of national ethnicities.
He, however, agreed that the government was ready to “accede to the request of Nigerians for a conference,” but stressed that “the type of conference that it will be is left for Nigerians to decide”.
“The government did not, at any time, say it is having a conference of ethnic nationalities,” he emphasised.
Speaking on Sunrise Daily, the flagship breakfast programme on Channels Television, the former lawmaker revealed that his committee was approached by several groups to recommend a conference of ethnic nationalities when it (committee) went round the country to consult with the people.
However, after inviting experts in different areas to engage in a seminar, the committee realised that the “conference of ethnic nationalities was impracticable” because “nobody in Nigeria knows how many ethnic nationalities there are in Nigeria”.
Senator Okorunmu noted that the census previously conducted did not capture nationalities and at such the population of the ethnic nationalities was equally not captured, maintaining that “it becomes difficult to have a conference which you will now base on ethnic nationalities”.
He called on the National Population Commission to ensure that ethnic nationalities are captured in future population census.
“The whole idea behind the conference is to have a constitution that we will all have confidence in, that reflects justice, equity and everybody is happy with,” he explained.
He further revealed that the committee, “from the opinions of Nigerians,” found out that “majority wanted the conclusion of the conference to go to a referendum. “We also found out there is a significant body of opinion, not the majority, that was against referendum on legalistic basis”.
Senator Okorounmu, however, noted that the issue of referendum would be sorted out by delegates who would attend the conference, maintaining that the committee took the decision to ensure that the conference does not crumble even before it begins.
He said: “When Nigerians meet at the conference, knowing the rigour they will go through to reach their conclusions and recommendations, if they decide that it should go to a referendum, so be it. If they decide that it should go to the National Assembly so be it. Nigerians will surely be there making those decisions”.
