Report on the National Political Reform Conference to the Governors and Chairmen of the State Councils of Traditional Rulers of the South-Eastern States.

Report on the National Political Reform Conference to the Governors and Chairmen of the State Councils of Traditional Rulers of the South-Eastern States.
The National Political Reform Conference took place at the National Conference Centre Abuja from 21 February to 21 June 2005. It was organised in three parts, namely, the opening plenary session to debate the presidential address and define the issues for the conference, the committee session when delegates were assigned to one of the nineteen committees on the issues, and the closing plenary to make comments on the recommendations of the committees leading to the final report of the conference.
I participated in the conference based on my nomination by the Governors of the South-Eastern States as representative of the traditional rulers of the zone. I fulfilled various capacities at the conference as follows:
• Coordinator of the Caucus of Traditional Rulers: I was chosen by consensus among the traditional rulers to act as the focal point for defining and canvassing the position of traditional rulers on issues of mutual interest that should be made at the conference. In that regard, I also submitted a memorandum to the committee on Traditional Institutions and Culture.
• Member of the Elders’ Committee of the South-Eastern Delegation: This was the inner caucus for considering matters outside the general caucus of the delegates from the zone.
Chairman of the South-East Contact Group: This group was mandated to establish contact with the other geo-political zones with a view to building alliances at the conference based on issues of common interest as well as compromises on areas of variance. In addition, I had particular responsibility for the relations with the South-South zone. This initiative led to the agreement of South-East, South-West, South-South and Middle Belt to pursue a common agenda at the conference to the mutual benefit of the parties.
Chairman of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Reforms: