The Southern Governors’ Forum was held today in Lagos State and very crucial issues were addressed and resolved. The salient points are itemized below:
• The next president of Nigeria, come 2023, should come from the Southern Region
• There is a need for State Police and State Governors should be informed of any major security operation in their respective state
• Ban on Open Grazing postponed till 1st September 2021
• Changes were made to the sharing formula for oil revenue
• NNPC to be held in trust by Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA)
• Changes were made to the electoral processes
Report from the Southern Governors’ Forum Held In Lagos are further discussed below:
At the Southern Governors’ Forum today, we reaffirmed our commitment to the unity of Nigeria on the basis of fairness and justice that ensures peaceful co-existence of the people, and unanimously agreed that the next president of Nigeria should come from the Southern Region.
On the issue of security across the country, we commended the security agencies for their relentless efforts in ensuring safety, and commiserates with loved ones of those who have fallen in the line of duty, while we still re-emphasised the need for state Police and that the Governors as the Chief Security Officers should be duly informed if any security operation is to be carried out in our respective states.
On the issue of the ban on open grazing in the Southern part of Nigeria, we set a timeline of Wednesday, 1st September, 2021 for the promulgation of the anti open grazing law in all member States; and resolved that Funds deducted from the Federation Account for the Nigeria Police Security Trust Fund should be distributed among the states and Federal Government to address security challenges.
The Forum commended the National Assembly for the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). We however rejected the proposed 3% and support the 5% share of the oil revenue to the host community as recommended by the House of Representatives.
We also reject the proposed 30% share of profit for the exploration of oil and gas in the basins as well as the ownership structure of the proposed Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).
It is our position that NNPC should be held in trust by Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) since all tiers of Government have stakes in that vehicle.
To consolidate our democracy and strengthen the Electoral process, the Southern Governors’ Forum rejects the removal of the electronically transmission of the election result from the electoral act; and also rejected the confirmation of exclusive jurisdiction in pre-election matters on the Federal High Court.
The meeting ended on a very strong note and the Forum unanimously chose Lagos state as its permanent secretariat and appreciated our state for the successful hosting of the meeting.
