NIGERIANS clamouring for a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) have been urged to drop the idea because it is diversionary and wasteful.The agitators have, therefore, been advised to allow the members of the National Assembly to carry out their constitutional responsibilities by addressing the issues raised by the campaigners .This is the position of the Taraba State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Gibon Timothy Kataps.He said the conference would amount to a waste of public funds and suggested that the matter should be left to the National Assembly to handle.In an interview with The Guardian in Jalingo, Kataps said the judiciary 'cannot take a position because in this contentious issue, it is the last arbiter. The judiciary's work is only going to be there, if somebody is dissatisfied and the government is not able to settle the issue, this set of people can go to court'.The exercise, if allowed to see the light of the day, according to him, would amount 'to wasting the precious times of Nigerians and the reasons are very simple. We cannot approbate and reprobate. We cannot elect representatives into the National Assembly and not allow them do their jobs'.To him, those calling for the conference are not in anyway qualified to discuss matters threatening to bring down the nation to its kneels. 'These people are not qualified to discuss issues that are threatening the federating units of what is called the Federal Republic of Nigeria.'That is absurd to me. Like I said, I am speaking as a legal practitioner because I do know that the provisions making for the establishment of the National Assembly are enough and do reflect the yearnings and interests of every Nigerian. Because there is no part in this country that is inhabited, which is not represented at the National Assembly.'Why did they not table the motion for debate at the National Assembly' And then, the National Assembly can dissolve into committees and hold public hearings, and then those who think that they have strong case to make they can do so'.Wondering why the SNC advocates would want to deny the National Assembly their constitutional duties, Kataps insisted that the only body qualified in law to amend the constitution is the Legislature .He said no matter how well the proposed conference might be conducted, 'you have to amend the constitution to fit in such resolutions. As far as I am concerned, 70 to 80 per cent of those who are advocating for the SNC are from the southern part of the country.'I have confidence that the National Assembly can handle any issue that concerns us as a federation or that concerns the federating unit and I am sure that they are qualified to discuss those things that would allay such fears, that some people perhaps are marginalised, their wealth is not equitably distributed, some people are undervalued for the resources coming from their areas' .
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