The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders’ Forum (SMBLF) has called on the people of the region to reject any political party that fails to zone its presidential ticket to the South ahead of the 2023 general election.

This is just as the Forum warned political stakeholders from the Southern region of the country “against aspirations or actions that would compromise the shared resolve of our people”.

The SMBLF made this known in a communiqué issued at the end its meeting held in Abuja on Thursday.

The Forum also demanded the immediate release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, who has been facing trial before the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja over charges of treasonable felony and terrorism proffered against him by the Federal Government.

It further called on the FG to stop any further persecution of Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, well known as Sunday Igboho, who is currently on a conditional release in the Benin Republic.

The Forum warned that the “continued detention and trial of Nnamdi Kanu on charges of terrorism and treasonable felony while known Boko Haram terrorists are being given VIP treatments and hosted in Government Houses is not only provocative and perfidious but a bizarre double standard on the part of the Nigerian State.”

The Forum further insisted on the fundamental restructuring of the country to reflect true federalism, and enthrone equity, fairness, and justice, before the 2023 general election, saying the existing “Constitution and Structure of Nigeria are grossly flawed”.

It noted that the local government affairs are state matters, adding that the listing of local governments in the Constitution is inconsistent with the principle of federalism.

SMBLF further noted that the Reports of both the 2014 National Conference and the Governor Nasir El-Rufai – APC Committee on True Federalism of 2018 recommended that the Federation of Nigeria should remain as constituted by the Federal Government and the states, and specifically excluded local government from being a tier of government in the federation but only subject to the creation and administration of the states.

“The legislations of the National Assembly granting local government autonomy are superfluous and exercise in futility,” it added.

The Forum declared that “State Police is a sine qua non in a Federal System of Government”, noting that “there is no government, properly so-called, that is without the instrument and capacity to enforce its laws and maintain security within its territorial jurisdiction”.

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The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders’ Forum added that the resultant effect of the monopoly of internal security by the Federal Government “is the unprecedented dire state” of insecurity in the country.

It, therefore, called for the “harmonization and immediate implementation of the Reports of the 2014 National Conference and the 2018 APC Committee on True Federalism aforesaid rather than the current cosmetic Constitutional Amendment, which is a drain on the resources of the country and do not address fundamental issues including fiscal federalism.”

The Forum stressed that the basis of any viable democracy, especially in a diverse and complex country such as Nigeria, is fair and even sharing of power.

Speaking on the “worsening state” of insecurity in the country, the Forum “decries the continued kidnappings and killings of innocent citizens and wanton destruction of livelihoods across the country by terrorists and criminals, especially in the North West, North East and Middle Belt region.

It further condemned the “ongoing massacres and decimation of indigenous populations, especially in Zuru, Kebbi State, Southern Kaduna, Benue, Plateau and Southern Gombe, where an untold number of citizens have been killed and Communities deliberately displaced, by Islamic extremists and foreign Fulani herders, with plausible official complicity.”

The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders’ Forum, therefore, urged the Federal Government to be alive to its primary duty of protecting the lives and property of citizens, safeguard all communities across Nigeria, and ensure the immediate return of displaced citizens to their ancestral homes.

Present at the meeting include Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Leader of Afenifere (South West); Dr. Pogu Bitrus, President of the Middle Belt Forum (Middle Belt); Professor George Obiozor, President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo represented by the Secretary-General, Ambassador Okey Emuchay, (South  East); and Senator Emmanuel Ibok Essien, the National Chairman of Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, (South South).

The meeting was attended by former governors, ministers, federal and state legislators, top politicians and professionals from the Southern and Middle Belt regions, including Senator Jonah Jang, Senator Femi Okurounmu, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Professor Ihechukwu Madubuike, Professor Charles Nwekeabu, Chief Gary Igwariwey (former PG Ohanaeze).

Others are Senator Bassey Ewa Henshaw, HRH Eze Cletus Iluomanya, Dr. Solomon Arase, Chief Supo Shonibare, Chief Sola Ebiseni, Chief Edozie Ezeugwa, Eze Dr. Ibe Nwosu, Engr. Bekinbo Dagogo-Jack, Nze Ozichukwu Chukwu, Elder Steven Bangoji, Dr. Akin Fapohunda, Dr. Alabi Femi, amongst others.

The Star