The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee on the proposed National Conference, Senator Femi Okurounmu, on Wednesday berated eminent constitutional lawyer, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, and members of the Igbo leaders of thought, which he leads, for criticising his committee’s report.
Okurounmu said attempts by anyone, including Nwabuzeze and his group, to discredit the committee would not fly because majority of Nigerians are enthusiastic about the proposed national dialogue.
At a news conference in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, Okurounmu declared that the ability of his committee to present a single report and forestall “dissenting or minority report” was a tremendous achievement.
Nwabueze and his group, the Concerned Igbo Leaders of Thought, had on Monday in Enugu faulted the recommendations in the report of the Okurounmu committee.
They said the report fell short of the aspirations of Nigerians.
While claiming that the confab committee recommended mere amendment of the nation’s constitution as against a new constitution, the Igbo leaders also kicked against the panel’s alleged proposal to select delegates on the basis of senatorial zones or federal constituencies.
But Okurounmu described the allegations against his committee as “wild, mendacious, obfuscatory and ill-intentioned.”
He accused Nwabueze of pursuing personal agenda, saying his group clearly went “beyond the bounds of decency and decorum by fabricating a report purely from their own imagination.”
He said: “They say, among other allegations, that the committee recommends a mere amendment of the constitution whereas what the people desire is a new constitution.
“They continued and alleged that the Presidential Advisory Committee recommends that the findings and conclusions of the conference be passed to the National Assembly whereas what they desire is a referendum.
“These allegations show clearly that members of the group have neither seen nor read the report that they are criticising and are merely acting on hear say because the Presidential Advisory Committee, under my chairmanship, made no such recommendations as alleged.
“The Nwabueze-led group has clearly gone beyond the bounds of decency and decorum by fabricating a report purely from their own imagination and levelling such scathing criticisms against it with a view to discrediting the real report, which it has obviously not yet seen.
“I shall resist the temptation to disclose what my committee’s report actually recommends in an attempt to refute the unsavoury allegations against the report.
“This is because it is the President who appointed us and it was him that we submitted the report to.”
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