Nwabueze may be represented on dialogue committee

Prof. Ben Nwabueze may  not personally participate on the Advisory Committee on National Dialogue/Conference set up by President Goodluck Jonathan, investigation has revealed.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria is among the 13 members of the committee which is headed by Senator Femi Okurounmu.

It was learnt on Sunday that the legal luminary, who was said to be abroad for medical treatment,  might have sent a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Solomon Asemota, to represent him on the committee.

The committee, which has one month  within which to conclude its assignment, will be inaugurated by Jonathan  at the State House on   October 7 (today).

The Secretary-General of the Project Nigeria Consensus Group, Wale Okunniyi, told our correspondent via telephone on Sunday that Nwabueze had written  the President, indicating his intention to be represented on the committee by Asemota.

Okunniyi, who confirmed to our correspondent that he had spoken with Nwabueze on the issue, said the representation might be permanent since the octogenarian might still be out of the country during the one-month period  given to the commmittee  to submit its report.

Okunniyi said, 'He (Nwabueze) is not in the country. I think what he has done so far was to consult and ask Solomon Asemota SAN to stand in for him. That is what he has done because he is not going to be around soon and the committee has just one month to complete its task.'

He also explained that Nwabueze's decision to ask Asemota to represent him did not connote pulling out of the committee.

'So it is not as if he is pulling out, but Solomon Asemota has been asked to represent him. He  has written a letter to the President to that effect. If he is in the country, he could have come in to serve,' Okunniyi said (THE PUNCH).