Updated: South-South leaders meet FG delegation, insist on restructuring for peace, development

… want NNPC subsidiaries’ head offices relocated to N’Delta

South-South governors and other leaders from the geopolitical zone met in Port Harcourt on Tueday with a presidential delegation led by the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.

To guarantee peace, security and stability in the region and by extension the country, the leaders demanded true federalism through restructuring.

They also requested the relocation of the headquarters of all subsidiaries of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to the region.

They also demanded the immediate privatisation of the nation’s refineries to make them functional and boost the economy of the region.

The leaders stated that the country was not at peace with itself and that things were not really working.

Chairman of the South-South Governors Forum and Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, presented the position of the zone during its stakeholders’ meeting with the presidential delegation.

The meeting, earlier slated to hold on November 17, was cancelled at the last minute on the excuse that the FG’s delegation had to attend an emergency meeting of the National Security Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, in Abuja on the same day.

Okowa told the presidential delegation that the region was committed to restructuring the country to guarantee “true federalism” and devolution of powers to the states to create and manage their own police and security architecture under a federal structure.

They requested the immediate implementation of the consent judgment entered in the Supreme Court Suit No: SC/964/2016 to enable the South-south gets its share of $55 billion shortfall of collection on deep offshore and inland basin production sharing contracts.

“True federalism’ guided by the principle of derivation, revenue sharing and control of resources by each state of the federation as it was the case in the first republic is what we want,” Okowa said.

According to him, the geopolitical zone desires a federation where its constituent units are constitutionally empowered to create their own structures like local government areas, manage their elections and control their judiciary.

He said, “We are all aware of the huge endowment of this country. As such, it is imperative to stress that with a little bit of efforts, imagination, hard work, sacrifice and leadership, every state of the federation as of today, has the ability and capability to contribute to the national purse. This should be encouraged rather than the whole country depending substantially on a region of the country.

“What is worse and even more painful in this ugly situation is the deliberate lack of understanding, empathy and the uncompromising attitudes of some Nigerians, who have refused to understand the challenges of the South-South region of the country, especially, the degradation of the environment and our waters. As a result, most of the demands of the region have remained unattended to while the resources of the region have been used continually to develop other parts of the country.”

The governors called for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the region’s major seaports in Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri to enhance the economic development of the region.

They demanded that the two refineries in Port Harcourt and Warri should be privatised.

The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, urged the leaders of the region to avail themselves of the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution by the National Assembly since most of the issues contained in their demands are constitutional matters.

Gambari said the meeting was in response to the President’s mandate that the presidential delegation comprising all the ministers from the region to visit and consult the representatives of the people regarding the recent #EndSARS protest.

He lauded the governors for their quick response and actions in addressing the #EndSARS crisis.

Those who attended the meeting were Governors Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Ben Ayade (Cross River), Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom), Douye Diri (Bayelsa) and Godwin Obaseki (Edo).

Others were Minister of Niger Delta, Senator Godswill Akpabio; Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva; Minister of State for Power, Mr. Goddy Jeddy- Agba; Minister of State for Niger Delta, Mr Festus Keyamo (SAN); Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, and Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.