Jonathan Calls for Implementation of 2014 Confab Report – TheNigerialawyer

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has called for the
implementation of the report of the 2014 National Constitutional
Conference, saying that he convened the conference because he
believed that the call for a national dialogue could no longer be
ignored, in view of the yearnings of Nigerians for reforms.

He explained that it was a decision taken to reconcile ethnic
differences, heal old wounds and promote peace, adding that the
nation needs to implement the recommendations of the conference, in
order to make progress.

The former President who stated this yesterday in Lagos at the
public presentation of a book by Senator Femi Okurounmu titled ‘The
Dream: Pursuing The Black Renaissance Through the Murky Waters of
Politics’, also stressed that his administration could not
implement the recommendations because it did not have enough time
to do so.

Jonathan also reiterated his call for the review of the process
of appointing leaders of the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC), as means of boosting the people’s confidence in
the electoral process and ensuring the impartiality and
independence of the electoral management body.

Making a case for the implementation of the 2014 conference
recommendations, Jonathan said: “The call for reforms has continued
to grow louder, gathering the kind of momentum that should no
longer be overlooked, if the nation must make real progress.

“I believe that the solutions to most of the problems we face
today lie in our honest assessment of the recommendations of the
2014 National Conference. If we take politics out of our
consideration, there is every likelihood that a diligent
implementation of the key recommendations of the conference will
lead the nation out of the woods. This will heal frayed nerves,
promote solidarity, engender peace and reposition our nation for
meaningful growth and sustainable development.”

On why his government could not implement the recommendations,
the former president noted that the report was submitted to him
less than one year to the end of his tenure when the nation was
already in the mood of electioneering.

He said further: “Then, the members of the National Assembly,
whose duty it was to consider and validate the process, were
preoccupied with the battle for political survival.

“I believed that given the nature of the consultations and due
deliberations involved in advancing the process, an orderly and
systematic implementation could not have been conducted in less
than one year. It was obvious we did not have that time before the
end of my administration. I did not insist on a rushed
implementation because my administration did not embark on the
conference to “achieve political popularity but to genuinely
advance the course of nation-building.

“We assembled 492 reputable individuals, drawn from all walks of
lives and shades of opinion, who emerged through a rigorous
selection process, to conduct diligent deliberations over a period
of 120 days. We did this not to score a political point, but to
come up with ideas on how to strengthen the pillars of our
democracy and build a new foundation for sustainable
nationhood.”

The former president further advised the National Assembly to
take relevant measures towards ensure the impartiality and
independence of the Electoral Management Body (EMB), as a means of
guaranteeing the credibility and legitimacy of electoral
processes.

He said: “In many thriving democracies, the responsibility of
appointing electoral umpires is no longer left in the hands of one
powerful politician. This is because no matter how he goes about
it, his intentions and choices will not be entirely trusted by the
stakeholders, on account of his or her partisan political
leaning.

“So, if the process of appointing the key members of the EMB, is
institutionalized, it would inspire confidence among all
stakeholders. One way this can be achieved is for the relevant arms
of the National Assembly to study the different models of
recruiting members of EMBs in other countries as a guide towards
establishing a functional template that would secure true
independence for INEC, in a manner that meets the expectations of
the people.”

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