Jonathan Extends Okunroumu’s National Conference committee Tenure As Nwabueze Opts Out

President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday extended the tenure of the National Advisory Committee on National Dialogue, led by Senator Femi Okurounmu, to six weeks as against the four weeks he announced in his Independence Day address to the nation.

Jonathan announced the extension of time while inaugurating the committee at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said the extension became necessary in order to give Muslims, who would be on Hajj, the opportunity to return to the country and contribute to the committee’s work before it winds up.

The President also gave members of the committee the free hand to decide the nomenclature for the planned conference -whether it would be called a national dialogue, conversation or conference.

Okurounmu, in his acceptance speech, expressed the confidence that the conclusion of the committee’s assignment and the national conference that would follow, those who were once skeptical and critical of the idea of a national conference, would have become convinced of its merits and benefits to the nation.

He observed that no committee in the nation’s polity is more sensitive or carries higher expectations from Nigerians than his committee.

President Jonathan has been widely criticized for this conference having condemned it in the past. Civil Society groups and the main opposition leaders have termed the proposed conference a deception.

Meanwhile one of the members of the Committee, Ben Nwabueze, has opted out saying he could not go on due to health issues.