Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday said the crisis within his party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was one of the reasons why his administration could not implement the report of the 2014 Confab he set up.
Jonathan made this known when he paid a condolence visit to the family of the late leader of pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo at Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, in company of former Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma and former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Olaode George, among others.
Jonathan said convening the CONFAB was made possible because of people of integrity like the Late Chief Adebanjo based on insinuations about perceived interest on his side which was unfounded, pointing out that he would have love to implement the recommendations before leaving office in 2015, but for the crisis orchestrated by some people within his party.
He explained that the composition of the 2014 Conference was credible, saying that he gave it “total authority to discuss what is good for this country,” just as he noted that when a nation was not moving as expected, there was a need for a comprehensive dialogue.
“I didn’t know that the issue of national conference would even come on board, without people like him and other leaders there, it wouldn’t have taken place because they thought initially I wanted to manipulate the system.
“I remember in the beginning when there were issues, some came to me, they said president, we want to know if there were some areas you were interested in. I say look, I can’t even advise you, you are more experienced than me. You are the leaders, Supreme Court justices, more than 50 percent of members were more experienced than me, it was benevolent privilege that made me to do that, setting up the Confab.”
He, however, recalled that people today still make reference to that conference, while they urged for need to revisit it whenever there was any issue at hand.
The report of the conference was submitted to President Jonathan who before he left office, handed them over to his successor, President Muhammadu Buhari as being among the major unfinished issues of his administration which he would want the new president to deal with.
Buhari however said the report would remain in the archives where according to him it rightly belongs.
