The draft rules of proceedings at the ongoing national conference have been released.
According to Assistant Secretary, Media and Communications of the Conference, Mr. Akpandem James, the rules, which will guide the conduct of the delegates at the conference, would be adopted by the delegates on Monday.
James explained that the Draft Rules and the 1999 Constitution have been ready since early on Thursday morning and delegates have been given to study. But he cautioned that the document is only a draft, which means the delegates will still debate it clause-by-clause on Monday.
“If they adopt it, then it becomes the Rules guiding the conference. But if there is any clause they feel should be amended or rejected, then they will decide at the plenary on Monday”, he said.
“What we are trying to do as a secretariat is to make the delegates as comfortable as possible to ensure smooth proceedings throughout the conference”.
Delegates also confirmed receiving the document and that they were already studying it alongside the 1999 Constitution.
“Delegates are already studying copies of the rules of procedures for the plenary and the constitution. The procedures would have to be debated and adopted first before the plenary could really commence business on Monday”, former Plateau Governor, Chief Fidelis Tapgun, a delegate, said.
“The documents are the Report of the Political Bureau and the past Constitutional Conferences set up by Obasanjo, Babangida and Abacha. We often see that committees are set up and nothing is done with their reports. But we think that this time around, the president is determined that we would look at all the past reports and put them in one paper that will be useful to this country”.
He said further that delegates would continue referencing the documents to avoid working at cross purposes.
“There were certain things that were raised in those reports that were not implemented in the past, which we feel if implemented, may help”, he said. “We will also see their relevance; and if see that they are relevant to our present conference, we will see how we can raise them again”.
