The governors of Southern Nigeria stressed on Thursday that the next President of Nigeria must come from the southern portion of the country, in the spirit of justice, equity, and fairness.
Additionally, the Forum restated its earlier dedication to structural and fiscal federalism, and urged members of their respective state Houses of Assembly, as well as representatives in the National assembly, to pursue its involvement in the Nigerian Constitution through the ongoing constitutional amendment process.
In a seven-paragraph statement issued by Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, the chairman of the Southern Governors‘ Forum and governor of Ondo State, the stance was also backed that the collection of VAT falls under the jurisdiction of the states.
According to the statement, “Nigerian Southern Governors’ Forum at its meeting of today, Thursday, 16th September 2021 held in the Government House, Enugu, Enugu State reviewed the state or the nation and the progress of implementation of the decisions reached in her previous meetings and further resolved as follows:
“Expressed satisfaction with the rate at which the States in Southern Nigeria are enacting or amending the Anti- Open Grazing Laws which align with the uniform template and aspiration of Southern Governors and encouraged the states that are yet to enact this law to do so expeditiously.
“Encouraged the full operationalization of already agreed regional security outfits; which would meet, share intelligence and collaborate, to ensure the security and safety of the region.
“Reaffirmed its earlier commitment to Structural and fiscal federalism as resolved at the inaugural meeting of the Forum held on Tuesday, 11th May 2021 at Asaba, Delta State and emphasized the need for the Southern States to leverage the legislative competence of their respective State Houses of Assembly as well as representation in the National assembly to pursue its inclusion in the Nigerian.
“Following from ‘paragraph 3’ above, the meeting resolved to support the position that the collection of VAT falls within the powers of the States.
“Expressed satisfaction with the handling of issues around the Petroleum Industry ACT (PIA) and ownership of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by the larger Nigerian Governors’ Forum.
“Reiterated their earlier position that the next President of Nigeria must come from the Southern part of Nigeria in line with politics of equity, justice, and fairness.
“The Forum thanked the host Governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, and chose Rivers State as the next host for the Southern Governors’ Forum meeting in November 2021”.
