National Conference: Committees to emerge today following delay

By Hassan Haruna Ginsau

Delegates at the National conference will be allocated committees today following a delay on Monday, which came about because the conference’s secretariat was still working on the 20 standing committees’ list.

The Chairman of the conference, Hon. Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi apologised for the postponement and said the committee list was not ready as at yesterday, but would be ready by today’s afternoon session (4p.m), noting that the secretariat “needed time to put finishing touches” to the committees list.

Before adjourning after roughly a 2-hour sitting, delegates proposed the replacement of certain issues of discussion under the committees, agreeing to adjust the work plan before discussing the issues to be discussed under each committee, with Kutigi stating that a clause could be added to say that committees could discuss any other related issues that may arise.

Meanwhile, a delegate, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba, representing civil society organisations, called for there to be only 4 committees as opposed to the 20 proposed by the secretariat, arguing that some issues up for discussion at the Committee level had been taken care of, and that those 4 committees could subsequently create subcommittees to take care of issues under them.

The committees include: Devolution of Power; Political Restructuring and forms of Government; National Security; Environment; Politics and Governance, as well as Law, Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Reform.

Others are Committees on Social Welfare; Transportation; Agriculture; Civil Society, Labour and Sports; Public Service; Electoral Matters; Foreign Policy and Diaspora Matters, Land Tenure Matters and National Boundary as well as Trade and Investment.

The rest are Committees on Energy; Religion; Public Finance and Revenue Generation and Immigration.