At the meeting of Governors and the South-South leaders with the delegation led by the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari at the government house in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, the leader demanded for the relocation of the headquarters of all major oil companies to the South-South.
The South-South leaders stated that the present arrangement where other zones and regions depend on proceeds from Niger Delta cannot conceive development.
It therefore, called and insisted on the need for restructuring, true federalism and the devolution of powers.
In a tweet made available by the official page of the Governor of Delta State who is also the Chairman of the South-South Governors forum Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, stated the zone were committed to the restructuring of Nigeria.
He wrote, “Earlier today, at the consultative meeting between the South-South region and the federal government, leaders from our region insisted on the need for restructuring, true federalism and the devolution of powers. This meeting, which held at the Government House in Port Harcourt, allowed us to also call for the relocation of the headquarters of all major oil companies to the South-South, as well as push for the establishment of state police forces. We also requested the completion of the East-West Road and all other federal roads in the region, as well as pushed for the rehabilitation of the region’s major seaports in Port Harcourt, Calabar and of course, Warri.”
He called for “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.”
According to him, the kind of federation the South-South geopolitical desires is one where federating units are constitutionally empowered to cr their structures like local government areas, manage their elections and control their judiciary.
“We are all aware of the huge endowment of this country. As such, it is imperative to stress that with a little bit of effort, 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.”
