Utomi reiterates call for Sovereign National Confab in 2008

02.01.2008

PROFESSOR Pat Utomi on Tuesday in Lagos repeated his call for the convening of a sovereign national conference this year. He was the presidential candidate of his party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the April 2007 elections.

“Nigeria must move ahead and there is no better way forward than for all stakeholders to come together and decide how best to solve the various issues plaguing them,” he said.

Utomi urged the government and the National Assembly to quickly look into the possibility of holding the conference by the end of January or early in February.

“The issue of a sovereign national conference has been on for too long and we must do away with procrastination if Nigeria is to remain as one,” he noted.

According to him, the reform processes instituted by the Federal Government, though commendable, were not good enough as they did not fully represent the desires of Nigerians.

“We have the issue of the last general elections, INEC, the electoral process, the Niger-Delta, resource control, poverty alleviation and a host of other pressing matters to decide on.

“These can best be done by selected Nigerians from all works of life, representing all interest groups,” he said. Reflecting on 2007, Utomi said that “there is the need to glorify God because the controversy generated by the last general elections would have led to a bloody revolution.”