Confab: S’South Delegates Rule Out Walk-Out

The South-South
delegates to the on-going National Conference have  ruled out the possibility of staging a walk-out from the conference.
The delegates gave this indication at  a meeting in Abuja where they agreed to foster a common front for the region at the confab.
There was unanimity among delegates that staging a walk-out would  make the zone loose out in the new Nigeria, which the confab is expected to produce.
The delegates agreed that rather than repeating the mistake of 2005 when delegates from the zone staged a walk-out during the National Political Reform Conference organised by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, they would argue out all issues on the floor of the conference and shun every form of walk-out.
A delegate and former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta, Senator John Braimbeifa told The Tide that “No body is going to stage a walk-out because walking out will make you  lose almost everything; we have even resolved at a meeting that there will be nothing like walk-out, we’ll argue it out on the floor of the confab, we’ll iron out everything on the floor of the conference, no walking out; nobody walks out’’.
Brambeifa, who is also a former governorship aspirant in Bayelsa State appealed to the people of the state to  provide relevant information needed to make a good case for them in particular and South-South in general at the confab.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Senators Forum has set up a research centre for its members who are delegates at the conference.
The members include two former presidents of the Senate, Senators Adolphus Nwabara and  Ken Nnamani; Senators Khairat Gwadabe, Abdullahi Adamu, Mohammed Ibrahim, Nnamdi Eriobuna, Jojn Brambeifa and Iyabo Anisulowo.
The centre is expected to equip the senators with relevant information on the wide-range of topics to be treated at the confab.
Disclosing this to The Tide in an exclusive interview, Senator John  Brambeifa said the senators were conscious of the fact that the expectation of Nigerians on the final outcome of the confab is very high, and are therefore determined to make the best representation that would produce good result.
“We intend to work very hard, that’s why we set up a research centre;  the senators forum has set up a research centre, so that for any topic that we’re going to handle, we’ll be able to get sufficient data to present when we’re speaking on the floor of the confab. By so doing, definitely you would have excelled in anything you are saying’’., he stated.

Senators after plenary and screening of Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa and Mr Godwin Emefiele as President, Court of Appeal and CBN Governor respectively in Abuja, last Wednesday.

Justus Unye-Awaji, Abuja