BY HENRY UMORU

ABUJA—AHEAD of the proposed National Political Summit by Professor Ben Nwabueze in Uyo, the Nigerian National Summit Group, NNSG, yesterday, disowned and dissociated itself from it, saying the said summit was not capable of achieving the yearnings of Nigerians for a Sovereign National Conference.

In a statement by the chairman of NNSG and elder statesman, Tanko Yakasai, said the problems Nigeria was going through were too endemic for what the group termed revelry and ceremonies in the name of national political summit.

He said: “We wish to bring to the notice of Nigerians that the proposed National Political Summit scheduled to take place in Uyo,Akwa Ibom State, is being organised by a distinct body, Project Nigeria which is led by Professor Ben Nwabueze.

“This clarification has become very imperative because of the numerous inquiries and clarifications sought by discerning Nigerians who have, over the years, rightly associated the Nigerian National Summit Group with the task of organising genuine dialogue to address the myriad of problems facing Nigeria through national conference.

“It would be recalled that Professor Ben Nwabueze, a respected elder statesman and leader of the Patriots, was one of the co-conveners of the inaugural National Summit Group meeting in Lagos in February, 2012.

“It is worthy to state that the meeting was well attended, drawing representations from all sections of the country. However, midway into the meeting, our elder statesman Professor Ben Nwabueze whose main objective was to persuade participants to endorse the concept of Sovereign National Conference, SNG, which obviously was not the preferred mode of dialogue by majority of participants, staged a walk-out.

“We, therefore, wonder whether the proposed national political summit in Uyo would satisfy the yearning for a sovereign national conference”.