The chair of the Patriots, and former Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, who announced the summit on Sunday in a national broadcast, said the theme of the conference is "Lawful Procedures for Actualising a People's Constitution For Nigeria".
The Eminent Leaders of Thought Group otherwise known as The Patriots has announced the convocation of a national dialogue on the constitutional future of Nigeria in honour of the late constitutional lawyer, Prof Ben Nwabueze.
The chair of the Patriots, and former Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, who announced the summit on Sunday in a national broadcast, said the theme of the conference is "Lawful Procedures for Actualising a People's Constitution For Nigeria".
Anyaoku, who took over the chairmanship of the group after the demise of Chief Nwabueze, announced that the national dialogue, which is aimed at mobilising Nigerians towards a new prosperous country, will be held at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos on Monday, March 18, 2024.
The former Commonwealth of Nations secretary-general said the colloquium would be in honour of the late Nwabueze.
The late lawyer was a protagonist of the 2014 National Confab inaugurated nearly 10 years ago – March 17, 2014 – by former President Goodluck Jonathan. His body was laid to rest last week in Atani, Anambra State.
A statement on Monday by the group's General Secretary, Wale Okunniyi, said that the historic national colloquium is also expected to set a popular citizens' agenda for the ongoing constitution review process initiated by the Nigerian National Assembly towards the political reconfiguration, cohesion and stability of Nigeria through a new democratic people's constitution being advocated to replace the subsisting military decree No 24 of 1999 still in force in Nigeria as the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
According to the statement, invited to address and participate at the National Summit are keynote speakers, discussants, representatives of the presidency, former presidents, former vice presidents, serving and former governors, and leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives.
Others are traditional rulers, national leaders of thought, scholars, members of the judiciary, captains of the private sector, and leaders of organised civil society and labour, among other Nigerians.