National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Dr. Nasir Isa Fagge, yesterday said the union boycotted the on-going National Conference because it lacks constitutional backing and its outcome would be deemed illegitimate.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, Dr. Fagge said the conception of the conference was dubious in intent and that its main thrust smacks of political deception. He said the Conference could not contribute to Nigeria’s development since its processes are rigged.

“The conference has no constitutional basis and its outcome must be deemed illegitimate even if the National Assembly comes to endorse it,” he said. Dr. Fagge also described the conference as a dialogue on an agenda by a coalition of government and some section of the ruling class to achieve an undisclosed agenda.

He argued that the representation of the labour, civil society organisations and others was borrowed to give credibility to the conference.

He said: “contrary to the recommendation of the Okurounmu’s committee for the nomination to be direct election, the federal government opted for subjective selection process given dominants advantages to the President and governors.”.

The ASUU boss further said even under the Abacha military dictatorship, 273 out of the 369 delegates to the 1995 constitutional conference were elected. “We observed from the breakdown of nominees that recommended framework was superseded by political considerations.”

He argued that leaders in-charge of the conference had failed to put under scrutiny the constitutional legitimacy of the conference, describing its conception as undemocratic.

Fagge said: “it is a negotiation avenue for sharing privileges with the exclusion of people. Nigerian should not be deceived to believe that liberal democracy will grow in country where the basis of social policy is the choice policies that breed poverty, class, ethnic and religious crises’.”

SOURCE: Daily Trust