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At the venue of the ongoing National Conference in Abuja was quite as usual on tuesday as delegates of the two major religions engaged in a debate over the dominance of Islam in the 1999 Constitution without any mention of Christianity. But the intervention of the leadership of the  conference saved the situation. The drama ensued when two Christian delegates representing Christian Leaders, Bishop of Kafanchan Diocese of Catholic Church, Joseph Bagobiri and Pastor Emmanuel Bosun (Ogun State), raised the issue which they described as unfair treatment of Christians and Christianity in the country. This angered their Muslim counterparts, who opposed their submissions. They had both submitted that the constitution of Nigeria was skewed in favour of Islam and Muslims with a call on delegates to ensure that the imbalance was corrected. Bagobiri  opened the debate on religion. He gave a detailed analysis of how the Nigerian constitution did not have any mention of Chris...

Delegates to the National Conference on Monday closed their ranks and adopted  70 per cent majority  as the voting mode to be used in taking decisions  at the conference. The agreement followed the adoption of the recommendation of the 50-member Consensus Group selected by the conference Chairman, Justice Idris Kutigi (retd.), last Wednesday. Delegates from the North and South had disagreed on the modality to reaching decisions in the absence of  a consensus. While delegates from the North asked for retention of three quarters in the National Conference Procedure Rules 2014, those from the South wanted two-thirds majority in the absence of a consensus. On resumption of the plenary in Abuja, the Vice-Chairman of the conference, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, informed the delegates  of the 70 per cent majority recommended by the consensus group. He then called for discussions on the recommendation. But there was an overwhelming call for a motion on the re...

"The National President of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and the Sultan of Sokoto, Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar yesterday led Muslims to protest the alleged marginalisation of Muslim in the composition of the on-going National Conference. Secretary General of the NSCIA, Ishaq Oloyede who spoke with state House correspondents after the meeting with the President said the president reassured them that the perceived marginalisation by Muslims was not a deliberate decision by government. . “What we came to discuss with the President is to consult with Mr. President and we are happy we consulted with him, and he has given us reasons to re-assure that Muslims in Nigeria are not deliberately marginalised and he has asked us to convey the feelings of the government, the genuineness of the government, the fairness of the government to the entire populace. “The president told us that if there are issues that are not as they ought to be, they were not definitely delibe...

"[The first major deadlock set in at the National Conference, yesterday, when delegates were split over the clause stipulating that all decisions to be reached must be done through consensus or a vote of 75 per cent majority. Tension began to rise when the chairman, Justice Idris Kutigi, attempted to overrule a delegate, Chief Mike Ozekhome, who had called for the amendment of the provision to make it possible for any decision to be arrived at through two thirds majority, which he said was the same position with the constitution and global best practices. Ozekhome had argued that it would be against the interest of natural justice and the nation for major decisions to be decided by only a few persons at the confab, since the meaning of 75 per cent was such that even if the delegates had up to 74.99 per cent, they could not change anything while a minority of 25 per cent of the members could easily win over anything they decide on under the rule of consensus... The activist...

Delegates to the ongoing National Conference on Monday in Abuja queued for about two hours before gaining entrance into the conference hall, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. Some of the delegates who commented on the development, expressed displeasure over the discomfort they were subjected to and urged the secretariat to intervene to prevent a reoccurrence. Some of the delegates, including Mr. Issa Aremu, Mr. Dan Iwuanyuanwu and Chief Femi Falana (SAN), drew the attention of the Chairman, Justice Idris Kutigi (rtd), to the plight of the delegates. “Mr. Chairman, what the delegates were subjected to this morning is a clear case of administrative lapse. “Many delegates queued for hours outside before they could gain entrance into this hall. “I think the secretariat should do something about it,” Aremu, Vice-President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), said. Nwanyanwu, Chairman, Labour Party, complained that security operatives at the gate of the National Judicial Inst...

National confab: inauguration kicks off today, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has deployed emergency ambulances to the venue of the National Conference in Abuja. Mallam Sani Datti, Senior Information Officer of the agency, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the National Contingency Plan for Nigeria (NCP) instituted by NEMA would attend to any emergency at the conference. He said the plan was drawn from stakeholders in disaster management. Datti listed the stakeholders to include the Federal Fire Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Nigeria Red Cross Society, Federal Road Safety Commission, the police and other security agencies. According to Datti, the contingency plan was developed by NEMA to enable it to respond promptly and effectively to disasters. He said the plan was to enable NEMA to respond to disasters through a standard guideline for minimum response. Mean while, FG has reiterate its restriction on delegates deliber...