National Conference Comes To An End

The National Conference has come to an end, and the delegates have agreed to a change in the document formally known as the draft constitution, through majority voice vote.

Members, on Thursday, agreed to change the Draft Constitution 2014 to ‘Proposed Amendment to 1999 Constitution’.

Northern delegates had rejected the draft constitution, saying that it was a ploy to legitimize the third term agenda.

Southern delegates, on their part had said that it was unfortunate as there was nothing in the report that was not adopted by the entire conference through consensus.

The National Conference, which began on March 17, 2014, would be formally declared closed by President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday, August 21, 2014.

The 2014 National Conference was inaugurated by the Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory.

There were about 492 delegates that represented a cross-section of Nigerians including the professional bodies.

The National Conference was headed by retired Chief Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi.

Following a plenary session that lasted for weeks, the Conference was broken into 20 committees that included Public Finance and Revenue among others.

Main Committees: Devolution of Power Committee, Political Restructuring and Forms of Government National Security; Environment; Politics and Governance; Law, Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Reform. Social Welfare; Transportation; Agriculture; Society, Labour and Sports; Public Service; Electoral Matters, Foreign Policy and Diaspora Matters, Land Tenure Matters and National Boundary. Trade and Investment Committee, Energy; Religion; Public Finance and Revenue Generation, Science, Technology and Development Immigration