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Obasanjo has secret political reform committee, says Makarfi
By Sukuji Bakoji,
Bureau Chief, Kaduna
Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Ahmed
Makarfi says President Olusegun Obasanjo has set up secretly a political reform
agenda committee to prepare a position paper that will be subject to national
discourse and dialogue.
The Kaduna State governor made the
startling disclosure during the inauguration ceremony of members of the Board
of Trustees and the National Executive Council of the Arewa Consultative Forum
(ACF) on Tuesday in Kaduna.
Makarfi stated that the inability of the
President to make public the existence of the committee has led to all kinds of
rumours and speculations, especially on the intention of the latter towards
2007 presidential race.
Said he, “I am speaking because Mr.
President has appointed a committee, which I happen to be chairing. Because of
different interpretations given to the committee, we want to meet Mr. President
to ask him to make this committee public, inaugurate it, make clear its terms
of reference so that people will know exactly what it is doing and what it is
not doing.
“But in brief, the committee is
only limited to preparing a background paper that will be subject to national
discourse and dialogue.
He argued that this has become very
imperative because of calls in different parts of the country for a convocation
of sovereign national conference, national conference, national dialogue, party
reforms, reform of structures of governance, electoral reforms etc.
“All of these views should be
collected and a background paper prepared so that a larger national body to
discuss them, to dialogue them and what is agreed there from may be taken as
the voice of the people of Nigeria and those that require legislation at the
national level, the national assembly will know that that is representative of
the views of Nigerians and those that require administrative handling could be
handled administratively”, Makarfi explained.
However, he refuted the allegation that
the committee was set up for an ulterior motive, stressing, “It is not a
committee for anybody’s third term, it is not a committee for any
particular amendment of a particular section of constitution”.
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