Chairman of the South-South Governors’ Forum and Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, on Saturday carpeted the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, for criticizing the restructuring call by the southern governors.
Recall that governors of southern states had recently converged at Asaba, Delta State, where they advocated for restructuring among other things to solve Nigeria’s many problems.
The governors’ declaration was, however, condemned by the Senate President, who asked the governors to rather restructure their states. Some other National Assembly members also kicked against some resolutions by the governors.
But Okowa, who spoke in Asaba, at an empowerment programme sponsored by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu said the governors were acting according to the will of the people of their states.
According to him, All Progressives Congress and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, had at different times advocated for restructuring.
He also clarified that the move was not to disintegrate the country but to ensure its unity.
“Unfortunately, I read in the papers that somebody said we ought not to talk about certain things, being elected people. If the voice of your people have been heard loudly and they have continued to talk and you’re an elected person but you shy away from giving further voice to their voices, then you ought not to be in the position that you occupy. So, I must thank our people in the House of Reps who have responded to the speech made by their colleagues in the National Assembly.
“As I did say, all the things that we discussed; nothing is against the unity of this country. We reaffirm that as a people, as elected governors, we believe in the unity of our country. But, we also went forth to advance the need for certain things to be done in order to give strength to that unity. That cannot be a reason for us to be vilified. Obviously not”, the governor said.
Going further, Okowa said, “We talked about restructuring which has been on the table for so long. Both the PDP and APC have endorsed restructuring. Our restructuring is all-inclusive and all-encompassing. We may have different views and approaches to restructuring, but when we sit at a table to dialogue, we will be able to agree on what is best for Nigeria.
“The conversations are obviously needed because if we do not talk and we allow the voices of our people to continue to speak, and the leadership shies away, then we are giving room for further crisis. So, I thought that it was time for other leaders across the country to thank the Southern governors for uniting to give a voice to the conversations because it is only when these conversations come at that level and driven in the interest of the majority of the people that we can have a truly united nation in which there is fairness and equity and trust amongst our people and the leadership.”