By Lawrence Olaoye
Barely a week into the National Conference, information filtered out yesterday that the Assistant Secretary, Rules and Procedures, Dr. Akilu Indabawa, slumped on Sunday and had since been flown to Dubai, UAE, for medical attention.
Investigations revealed that Indabawa caved-in to stress after several sleepless nights trying to put finishing touches to the Confab’s rules and procedures scheduled for debate yesterday.
It is feared that the Confab executive member may have suffered from partial paralysis occasioned by the stress associated with his being overworked.
Sources close to the conference hinted that since the commencement of the national conference, some of the principal officers had been working tirelessly to ensure the success of the conference.
When called for clarification, the Assistant Secretary on Media and Communications, Mr James Akpadem, said he was not aware of the development.
But information the filtered out when two delegates from the north were discussing the matter. One of them expressed shock over the incident, saying that it was unfortunate that the secretary could be sick at this point when he was needed most.
Although, no official announcement was made on the matter at the plenary, the debate on the issue of replacement for any ailing executive at the confab dragged for sometime without any consensus.
Those who contributed to the debate argued that the President should not be stampeded into appointing a replacement for any ailing executive member. This is just as some of them were pushing for an order on Jonathan to announce a replacement within 48 hours.
Others also argued that such replacement should be done from among the conferees through election.
There are insinuations that the debate on the replacement clause may have dragged at the plenary because information regarding Indabawa’s health situation may have leaked to some of the delegates.
