TheCable

Chairman of the National Conference, Justice Idris Kutigi, has denied that the confab was planning to produce a new constitution to elongate the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The allegation was made by Northern Delegates Forum on Tuesday at a press briefing where they alleged that it was a back-door attempt aimed at giving Jonathan a third term.

The northern delegates, led by Alhaji Ibrahim Coomasie, a former inspector general of police, said only amendments to the 1999 constitution were proposed.

Producing a “2014 constitution” would allow current office holders to enjoy a lacuna to seek fresh mandates under a new document, he said.

However, Kutigi said on Wednesday that there was no such plan.

He said: “If there are any errors, they are human errors and not an attempt by the leadership to play any game.”

He stated that the draft reports of the conference prepared by the secretariat were done “to the best of our ability and with all honesty and diligence”.

However, the former chief justice of the federation said as humans, “there could be noticeable errors that would be corrected if brought to the attention of the secretariat… any mistake is due to human error and can be corrected.”

The chairman said in line with the resolution of the conference, the reports were prepared to cover constitutional issues based on amendments agreed upon by the delegates; policy issues meant for implementation by the resident; and legislative issues earmarked for enactment into laws by the national assembly.

He explained that the copy labelled “draft constitution” contained the various alterations and amendments to the 1999 constitution proposed by the delegates.

The conference will begin deliberations on the draft report on Thursday after a one-week delay.