Sovereign National Conference: National Assembly ignorant – PRONACO

The Pro-National Conference Organisation has carpeted the National Assembly for arrogating to itself the powers to give the country a peoples’ constitution
PRONACO said in Lagos on Wednesday that the National Assembly has no such powers legally or conventionally.
Speaking through its spokesperson, Veteran Olawale Okunniyi, PRONACO said under Sections 8 and 9 of the subsisting Decree 24 of 1999 foisted on the country by the military regime of retired General Abdusalami Abubakar, but tagged the 1999 Constitution and as amended in 2011, the National Assembly has no powers to give the country the desired brand new constitution but to amend or tinker with the subsisting Decree 24 of 1999 for the day to day governance of Nigeria.

It will be recalled that the Senate through its spokesperson, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said in Abuja on Tuesday that only the National Assembly can give the Nigerian people the kind of constitution they want.
But this is  opposed to the overwhelming call of Nigerians for a peoples’ national conference
PRONACO said: “We are always ashamed of the ignorance and self projection betrayed by the nation’s legislature each time they lay claim to or try to contradict the sovereign powers to give the country a brand new constitution through a Peoples’ National Conference which conventionally belongs to the Nigerian people.
“Such statements from the National Assembly at this time of horrendous bloodletting and killings in the land over our conflitual constitutional and political structure smack of irresponsible selfishness on the part of the national assembly.
“We hope our legislators are not saying they also want a feel of the dose of bombings on innocent and defenseless Nigerians before they can yield to the overwhelming demands of Nigerians for popular restructuring.”
Okunniyi said the over bloated, corrupt and unyielding government structure in Nigeria is the greatest enemy to the stability and prosperity of the country and that Nigerians must take their destinies in their hand at some point if they must survive the present slavery to political office holders as the country’s economy has refused to work under the over protected political system
He also said that “in every decent society, it is not a government that gives a nation a constitution but rather it is the people that give a government a constitution as a covenant for governing them within a nation.”
PRONACO cautioned the National Assembly against opposing the will of Nigerians for a popular national negotiation but rather to urgently facilitate it as enabled by the law in saving the country from an imminent civil strife.