Jonathan Finally Reveals Why He Did Not Implement 2014 Confab Report

Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday said the implementation of the recommendations from the 2014 national confab will solve most of the problems plaguing the country.

According to him, there is an urgent need for the leaders of the country to set aside political differences and work out the implementation of the confab report.

The former President also noted that he didn’t implement the confab report and recommendations due to time constraint occasioned by the 2015 electioneering activities.

Jonathan made the submission while speaking in Lagos on Thursday during the public presentation of a 669-page book, titled: “The Dream: Pursuing the Black Renaissance through the Murky Waters of Nigerian Politics,” written by Senator Femi Okurounmu.

“I believe the constitutional conference will solve our immediate challenges. My administration was prepared to change the narrative of our constitutional democracy with the assurance that sovereignty belongs to the people.

“However, we were time constrained. The conference was conducted one year to the end of my tenure. We did not have the time, even the National Assembly which supposed to validate the report was busy with political survival.

“I did not insist on rushed implementation because my administration did not set out to achieve political popularity but to genuinely advance the course of nation-building. “My administration was prepared to change the narrative of our constitutional democracy with the assurance that sovereignty really belonged to the people. However, we were time constrained. The Conference was concluded less than one year to the end of my tenure.

“We received the report specifically on August 21, 2014, at a time the nation was already in the mood of electioneering. Then, the members of the National Assembly, whose duty it was to consider and validate the process, were preoccupied with the battle for political survival,” he said.

Meanwhile, the author of the book, Senator Okurounmu also called for Nigeria’s return to true federalism, noting that only that can move the country forward.

“Without restructuring back to federalism, I have no hesitation in declaring that Nigeria’s development will continue on a downward path, and the state of social disharmony and insecurity will continue to heighten”, Okurounmu said.