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Rep criticises
Obasanjo over new bill on Plateau
By Uchenna Awom
National
Assembly
Correspondent,
Abuja
The Chairman, Plateau State Caucus in the
House of Representatives, Adamu John Longhor, has said the bill sent to the
National Assembly by President Olusegun Obasanjo, seeking the establishment of
a reconciliation commission might be a ploy to set the stage for the extension
of the state of emergency now in Plateau State.
Addressing the press in Abuja on Thursday,
Longhor said the bill looks quite ominous and sinister, as all Plateau
indigenes are hoping and looking forward to November 23, for the restoration of
all democratic structures in the state.
He added that going by the outcome of the
peace and unity conference where all ethnic groups in the state agreed to live
in peace and restore the democratic structures, the bill now suggest that there
is a design to create the environment for an extension of a state of emergency.
Obasanjo had on Tuesday sent in a bill to
the National Assembly to make provision for the Plateau State Unity and
Reconciliation Law 2004 and Establishment of a Reconciliation Commission.
In it Obasanjo said to complement the gains
of the peace conference, the next stage of the peace process is the
establishment of a reconciliation commission, the aim of which is to
consolidate and promote unity and reconciliation among the indigenes of the
state.
Longhor said it is surprising that the bill
and the intension to establish a reconciliation commission is coming at a time
when peace has been achieved sufficiently to restore the democratic structures.
He asked why the bill did not come earlier than now.
He said the letter from the President was
surprising, as he did not also specify the financial implication of the
commission and duration of its work.
“Is it going to be a permanent
commission? Is it not wise that all the democratic structures be restored first
before the commission? Why must the commission be restricted to only Plateau
State and not nationally to reconcile other crisis, like that in Rivers State,
Borno, Nasarawa and other flashpoints”, he asked
Longhor said Plateau people would want to
be assured that this bill is not a ploy to extend the state of emergency in the
state.
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