Enahoro's group, Northern elders meet today on national confab
By Idowu Ajanaku (Lagos) and
Pascal Nwigwe (Abuja)
EFFORTS by the group, Nigerians United for Democracy (NUD), to canvass support for the convocation of a national conference is expected to be taken to the door-step of Northern leaders as the Chief Anthony Enahoro-led group meets with Northern leaders in Kaduna today.
The meeting, which is billed for the Arewa House, Kaduna, is to provide an opportunity for the NUD to rally the northern elders' support for the crusade.
It will also be an opportunity for the Enahoro-led group to receive memoranda from all segments of the country on modalities for the convocation of the conference, which the federal authorities have consistently opposed.
At the weekend, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Austin Opara, stated that any such conference would render the National Assembly void.
The submission of memorandum to the Enahoro group, which was billed for last Friday, was suspend till today to accommodate the Northern elders and in effect remove ethnic coloration.
With Enahoro in the NUD are former presidential candidate, Chief Olu Falae and former governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa. The others include another former presidential candidate, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite and Chief Chekwas Okorie.
The group has since extended its hands of fellowship to the citizen's group led by Prof. Wole Soyinka, the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, and its South-East counterpart, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
Also involved in the new movement are rights activists such as Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), Mr. Femi Falana, and Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti.
The NUD has vowed to ensure the convocation of the conference with or without the Federal Government's support.
A member of the NUD, Chief Supo Sonibare, last night confirmed today's meeting with the Northern leaders.
He said: "Our meeting on Friday in Lagos was shifted to Kaduna so that the group will have the opportunity of seeking the opinion of the northern leaders. Besides, the conference is not meant only for the southern part of the country. Northern leaders like Alhaji Balarabe Musa and others have been coming for meetings in Lagos and Abuja and I think it is right for us to meet there."
Sonibare described as untrue insinuations that the North is opposed to the national conference.
To him, if there is any place where the voice for the convocation of national conference has been loud in recent times, it is the northern part of the country.
This, he said, has given NUD the strength to continue mobilising for the conference across the country.
"For now, it is only President Olusegun Obasanjo and those benefiting from the system that are opposed to the conference. But such opposition will not last," Sonibare said.
But the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives has dismissed the calls for the conference.
"Matters should be looked at correctly, Opara said in a chat with media correspondents at the weekend.
"There is no tribe in this country that does not have a representative in the National Assembly. Why can't we discuss and iron out these issues at the National Assembly
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Opara explained further that the National Assembly was constituted to tackle matters for which a confab is being proposed.
As stipulated in the constitution, the National Assembly has 360 members of the House of Representatives and 109 members of the Senate, from federal constituencies and sectorial district comprising the constitutionally-recognised 774 local government areas of the country.
He, however, confirmed that there is currently a bill before the National Assembly for an Act to convoke a National Conference.
