SNC suitable for countries coming out of war –Reps

The House of Representatives on Thursday took a swipe at persons and groups advocating the convening of a Sovereign National Conference to address the challenges confronting the country.

The House claimed that the SNC was unnecessary at a time democracy had stabilised in the country.

It said the National Assembly was in place as the appropriate institution to address any constitutional or political reforms agitating the minds of the people.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, while giving the position of the legislature in Abuja, said such a conference was needed in countries just coming out of war.

According to him, Nigeria is not in the category of such countries, as it has democratic structures like the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly in place to address any contentious issues.

Mohammed added, “What are the parameters for the conference? Who will set the agenda and who are those to moderate it?

“We have constitutional review on hand. People seeking reforms should forward their memoranda to the National Assembly to look into them.

“To say that we are convening a national conference at this point does not look nationalistic; we have the state assemblies, people can also go there.

“The SNC is suitable for countries that are coming out of war.”

He stated that the SNC would drag Nigeria to a state where “tribal lords will be in charge; we are going to create more problems and not solutions”.

He advised those calling for a national conference to have confidence in the democratic institutions, saying they would address their worries.

On Thursday, another constitutional amendment bill passed second reading at the House to stop the President or governors to amend any existing law conflicting with the provision of the constitution.

The sponsor of the bill and Deputy Leader of the House, Mr. Leo Ogor (PDP Delta State), said the provision was an attempt to “usurp the legislative powers” of the National Assembly.

Ogor noted that Section 315 (2) conflicted with Section 4(2), which defined law making to be the primary responsibility of the legislature.

He said, “This provision violates Section 4(2) because it usurps the powers of the National Assembly.

“This provision is undemocratic and suitable for a country where there is no parliament; it should be amended.”