PRESS STATEMENT 18 MARCH 2014 PRESIDENT JONATHAN UNFOLDS THE CONFERENCE HIDDEN AGENDA ‘Let me at this point thank the National Assembly for introducing the provision for a referendum in the proposed amendment of the Constitution.’ ………President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR 17 March 2014. One is alarmed that President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR, is covertly unfolding the Hidden Agenda of the National Conference as evidenced by his double-speak. My Dear Compatriots! We must all beware of moves to derail the 2015 general elections and do well to nip it in the bud. One recalls vividly that penultimate week President Jonathan told Nigerians that the outcome of the National Conference will be submitted to the National Assembly; yesterday during the inauguration of the conference he reversed himself saying, ‘Let me at this point thank the National Assembly for introducing the provision for a referendum in the proposed amendment of the Constitution. This should be relevant for this Conference if at the end of the deliberations, the need for a referendum arises.’ The question is, is it only yesterday that Mr President stumbled on the provision of referendum in the papers of the National Assembly for the proposed amendment of the Constitution? If not why not address this issue from day one? Is it an after-thought? For the avoidance of doubt, there is no such provision in the proposed National Assembly papers; therefore it is being cooked up to derail the 2015 general elections. One stands to be corrected that the National Assembly has never met on the issue of constitutional amendment since the Senator Femi Okoruomou was set up. It is my candid view that we need to restructure the country, devolve powers, entrench children’s rights, address gross unemployment and gross inequality, stop corruption; however, the 2015 general election as a referendum more than any other quasi-assembly, offers Nigerians the golden opportunity to effect regime change and re-position the country. More so, when the core ingredient of free, fair and transparent election is a referendum on the performance of the incumbent, which Mr President seems to be tacitly avoiding. The 2015 election should not be put in harm’s way by desperadoes. Whereas, one is in support of a genuine people’s referendum on national issues, one views the covert insertion of referendum at this late hour as the genesis of a Hidden Agenda meant to derail the 2015 general elections.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 12:07:53 +0000
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