On the first day of the Conference, the Donatists challenged the list of the signatures of the Catholic bishops on the document in which they had assigned their representatives. The roll call followed, in which the tribune Marcellinus, who presided, called the Catholic bishops one by one, and their Donatist counterparts were to identify them.

In this case, there was no Donatist bishop at Abziri, which formed part of the Donatist diocese of Uthina, from which a presbyter was delegated to Abziri.