Conference rents offices for committees

The National Conference has rented offices for 10 of its 20 standing committees outside the National Judicial Institute (NJI) complex hosting the conference.

Conference secretary Dr Valerie Azinge yesterday said the secretariat had to rent 10 offices for the 10 standing committees outside the NJI complex because of space constraint.

Azinge spoke during adoption of committees structures by the plenary where some delegates asked for more committees to be created.

The secretariat had proposed 20 standing committees for the conference but some delegates complained that the number was not enough.

But Azinge explained that the secretariat is constrained by infrastructure. She said that the NJI complex has only 10 committees rooms.

“We have offices constraint in this complex. In fact, we have only 10 committee rooms available at this complex now. We have to rent offices for the remaining 10 committees outside the complex,” she said.

Also, the deputy chairman Professor Bolaji Akinyemi explained that for more committees to be created, the secretariat would have to request for additional funds from the Federal Government to rent more offices.

Reacting to this, Alhaji Muhammad Yaro Farakwai, former speaker of Kaduna House of Assembly and one of the delegates from former Nigerian Speakers Forum, suggested that the secretariat should not ask for additional funds from the government.

“Mr Chairman, I want to suggest here that you should refrain from asking for more money from the Federal Government. The secretariat should find ways of merging the committees. But we should not ask for more money from government,” Farakwai said.