Why I did not implement Confab report - Jonathan
- Goodluck Jonathan called on his successors to implement the Confab report
- He explained that he did not because it was already too late
- The former president said the Confab recommendation will solve some of Nigeria's problems
Former president, Goodluck Jonathan has urged President Muhammadu Buhari and other persons that come after him to implement the recommendation of the 2014 Confab report.
The national conference during the administration of Jonathan and although he did not implement it, he said it was a pointer to how Nigeria can develop.
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Vanguard reports that Jonathan explained in the goodwill message delivered on the occasion of Integration Summit Roundtable in Abuja that time was too short for him to implement the report.
He said he would have run into ethical issues if he had rushed to implement it and urged leaders to embark on project that will outlive their administration.
The former president noted that the report was submitted to him in August, 2014 which was one year before the 2015 general elections.
He said: “I am aware that some people have raised some issues with the fact that I did not implement the recommendations of the confab during my tenure. I would like to state that those making this kind of claim are not being fair to me.
“Such people tend to forget that the report was submitted in August 2014, few months before the last general elections. It was at a time that the National Assembly was on break with many of the members already retreating to their different constituencies to prepare their constituents for elections.
“I believe that to have a tidy procedure of implementation, it would have involved committee deliberations, public hearings and town hall consultations on different segments of the report. There is no doubt that the nation then needed up to one year to complete the processes of implementing the recommendations.
“It was obvious that my administration, given the time the report was submitted, couldn’t have implemented the report, before the 2015 elections, without running into ethical questions.”
He called on his successors to implement the report and that there is still agitation because “we are still trying to discover the best way to run our republic, so that whatever policies we pursue or projects we implement as a nation, will benefit the greatest number of our population.
“It was a conference that was designed to shape our future. Its outcome was meant to be of benefit to the future generation of Nigerians. Contrary to the claims in some quarters, the conference was not designed for my own gain or for the immediate benefit of the participants.
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“I believe that those entrusted with the responsibilities to formulate policies or make laws should take the kind of decisions that should outlive them, not the ones designed to deliver instant profits to them.”
Meanwhile, Dr Junaid Mohammed who is a second republic lawmaker said that he is not surprised that President Muhammadu Buhari has not implemented the national conference report.
According to the lawmaker who was a delegate at the conference in 2014, the confab was doomed from the beginning.
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Source: Legit.ng
