By Gbenga Oke

Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, yesterday slammed Northern leaders calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to convene a fresh National Conference.

Junaid Mohammed

He said the President should be left alone to transform the country rather than engaging in another round of fruitless conference.

Some prominent Northern leaders had rejected the implementation of the 2014 report of the National Conference convoked by former President Goodluck Jonathan, saying it did not address the key issues affecting them and called on President Muhammadu Buhari to convene a fresh conference that would take into cognisance the challenges facing them and proffer solutions.

But Mohammed said: “Calling for another National Conference is meaningless, cheap, fruitless and a useless distraction for the new government. Both the last Conference and another one that is being called for in unnecessary.

“I believe anybody who has anything tangible should send such report to the National Assembly because that is the only arm of government that has the power to amend the constitution rather than asking the President to waste tax payers’ money again.”

“As far as I am concerned, everybody today consider themselves a Northern leader. However, I believe if there is need for the constitution to be amended, the National Assembly had been empowered to do so.