BY  OKEY NDIRIBE

ABUJA—There are indications that the National Assembly may approve funds for the proceedings of the proposed National Conference, if it is contained in Presidency’s 2014 Budget proposal currently before the federal lawmakers.

This was disclosed yesterday by Senator Enyinna Abaribe, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs during an exclusive interview he granted to Vanguard in Abuja.

Commenting further  on how funds for convening the confab could be provided, he expressed the view that this should be handled by the Presidency which must have included  funding for the confab in the proposed Appropriation Act for 2014.

Said he: “I am sure that if the President  presents a budget proposal for the confab in 2014 Budget estimates, it would surely sail through”.

However, he said that  contrary to the demand of  some agitators for the confab that the exercise required a pre-existing legal backing for it to take off, the National Assembly might turn down the request if it was ever presented in future.

Throwing more light on why  the request for a pre-conference legal backing might not get the endorsement of the National Assembly, Abaribe said the 1999 constitution as amended, which the federal legislature relied on to carry out its functions, remained the only document which could guide its activities.

His words: “ We swore to an oath to abide by the provisions of the constitution. However, due to the agitations of Nigerians for a national conference, we have agreed that we would be ready to incorporate the resolutions of the conference as part of  the contributions to the on-going constitution amendment. “In addition to this, we included a new provision to section nine, in the proposed amendment which empowers the National Assembly to draft an entirely new constitution for the country.”