2014 NATIONAL CONFERENCE: MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN OR HARBINGER OF A NEW NIGERIA?

Abstract

On 17th March 2014, the then president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria finally bowed to years of pressure from divers sources and convened a conference made up 492 members drawn from different strata of Nigerian society at the National Judicial Institute, Abuja to deliberate on the “Nigerian Agendaâ€1 President Jonathan had earlier on 30th August 2013 affirmed the belief of his administration in the right of the nation’s constituent parts to come together to discuss how they will continue to live in peace and unity2 . However this Conference did not come cheap. About N 7 billion was said to have been budgeted for the Conference3 although this sum was said to have been later reduced because there was a drop in the number of delegates from 571 delegates to 492 delegates who attended the Conference.4 Two issues emerge here. The first issue is whether President Jonathan had powers under the law to convene and spend such money on the Conference which has been described by the current president, Muhammadu Buhari, as a waste of public fund5 . Indeed a prominent Nigerian lawyer had gone to court to challenge the convening of the Conference by President Jonathan6 . The other issue is whether the contents of the resolutions of the Conference7 can form foundation of a “new†Nigeria. This paper intends to examine both issues in line with the existing legal framework and proffer solutions to the issues raised in the findings.