THE National Chairman of Action Democratic Party (ADP) Sani Yabagi has described Monday’s meeting of governors of the Southern states in Lagos as a ‘gang up’ against the North.
The ADP chairman said this in an interview on Channels TV on Monday.
Yabagi was reacting to the communique issued by the Southern Governors Forum after a meeting at Alausa, in Lagos State.
The Lagos meeting is a follow-up to earlier talks held on May 11, where the governors unanimously resolved to ban open grazing in the southern part of the country.
The governors at the Lagos meeting rejected the proposed three per cent share of oil profits for host communities in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), as well as the proposed ownership structure of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Also, they rejected the removal of electronic transmission of election results from the proposed amendment to the Electoral Act 2010 by the National Assembly.
The Southern governors also insisted that the country’s next president should emerge from their region in 2023.
Yabagi in his reaction, said the southern governors, instead of working to protect and advance the unity of the country, were going about enlisting agendas that will divide the country.
“I think the coming together of the governors of southern extraction is the very wrong way to go about the issues of politics that affect the nation. Because the message here, unfortunately, is like ganging up against the rest of Nigeria, particularly the North, by state actors who should be people that protect and advance the unity of this country.
“All the things listed in that communique from their meeting seems to be a kind of ganging up against the North,” he said.
“When you look at the grazing issue, insecurity, the issue of politics of 2023, how can we have elected officials, governors for that matter, coming in this manner to emphasise things that divide us? Not talking about things that unite the country beats my imagination,” the ADP national chairman added.
The ICIR had earlier reported that Monday’s meeting was the second time the Southern governors would meet in less than two months over the state of the nation.
In addition to the decision to ban open grazing in the southern part of the country, the governors had, during the first meeting which held in Asaba, Delta State, also resolved to advise the Nigerian government to convene a national dialogue to ensure greater inclusiveness in existing governance arrangements.
They equally charged the Nigerian government to review appointments into Federal Government agencies, particularly security establishments, to reflect federal character.
The governors also canvassed the need for the country to be “restructured to reflect true federalism, leading to state policing and a change in the revenue allocation formula of the nation.”
Blessing Otoibhi is a Multimedia Journalist and Anchor host for the News in 60 seconds at The International Center For Investigative Reporting. You can shoot her a mail via [email protected] or connect on Twitter @B_otoibhi
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