…as delegates shun plenary
Unless there is a dramatic change of attitude, the ongoing national conference in Abuja may not record much success as apathy has crept into its activities.
National Mirror investigation revealed that for some weeks now, delegates had been shunning the plenary to pursue personal political ambitions or businesses.
It has also been observed that attendance at the plenary has continued to deteriorate since delegates’ complained of lack of payment of their allowances a few weeks ago.
Responding to National Mirror’s questions on why attendance has been low in recent weeks, a South-West delegate at the conference, Wale Oshun, attributed it to the issues placed before the conference in recent weeks.
According to him, “In the last two weeks we have been dealing with procedural and policy issues, which some members feel are not all that important as constitutional matters that brought them to the conference.
“Many people are of the view that policies are matters for government in power and as such may not put much premium on it. But I can assure you that from this week, when debates will start on constitutional matters; there will be improvement in attendance.”
Oshun said that with the speed the conference had been going, it should have completed substantial parts of its assignment before the July deadline of the conference.
According to him, work has been completed on seven out of the 20 committees set up.
He, however, denied that the apathy was due to lack of payment of allowances.
Media Coordinator of the conference, Mr. Akpandem James, however, denied that attendance was low.
According to him, “It depends on the time and day you are looking at the sitting. There is always a full house in the morning, but if you look at it in the evening, some of the delegates might have been tired and have to rest.
“You should not also forget that some of the delegates are politicians; there are some days that they will be occupied by official engagements. So if you look at the sitting then you might be tempted to say it is low, but that is far from it, it depends on when you are looking at it,” he said.
Source: National Mirror
