Confab: Committees get 2 weeks extension

The committee on Devolution of Power has not made much progress because they had been disagreeing vehemently on resource control.

The meetings of the 20 Standing Committees of the ongoing National Conference have been extended by two weeks to enable them complete their work.

The Assistant Secretary, Media and Communications, James Akpandem, said on Wednesday in Abuja that the new date for committees to conclude work was now May 15.

Some committees had complained that the seven days given to them to conclude work and submit reports was inadequate considering the enormity of work that needed to be done.

“The committees have up to Thursday, May 15 to conclude work and submit reports.

“The conference secretariat does not have the power to extend the conference duration.

“It has, however granted the request of the leadership of the committees to allow them up to May 15 to conclude their work.

“This became necessary because public holidays have eaten into the time for committee work.

“Some delegates are also going to be involved in the World Economic Forum beginning on Monday,” Mr. Akpandem said.

The Chairman, Committee on Science, Technology and Development, Daniel Maddo, said that the committee needed extension of time to enable it to do a thorough work.

“It is unlikely that we will be able to conclude all our work today.

“Even if we receive the report of the last syndicate group, we are unlikely to be able to sit down and compile our reports in a form that we can present to plenary.

“So we will definitely require an extension of time. We will need another three to five days. We’ve already discussed that.

“The conference leadership called us on Monday and we met and we expressed our fears that we may not likely finish within the stipulated time.

“So I believe they are going to consider it and give us a response before the end of today,” Mr. Maddo said.

Similarly, the Deputy Chairman, Committee on Law, Judiciary and Human Rights, Auwalu Yadudu, hinted that the committee might need an extension of time and that the conference and the committees leadership would meet on the issue.

(NAN)