Full text of Southern Govs communique By Samuel Oamen

COMMUNIQUÉ ISSUED AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE MEETING OF THE GOVERNORS OF SOUTHERN NIGERIA AT THE LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT HOUSE, IKEJA, LAGOS STATE, ON MONDAY, 5TH JULY, 2021 NIGERIA. The Southern Governors Forum at the end of the meeting held on Monday, 5th July, 2021 reviewed the situation in the Country and focused on the current security situation, constitutional amendment, Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). Rising from the meeting, the Forum agreed on the following: 1. Re-affirmed their commitment to the unity of Nigeria on the pillars of equity, fairness, justice, progress and peaceful co-existence between and amongst its people. 2. The Forum reiterates its commitment to the politics of equity, fairness and unanimously agrees that the presidency of Nigeria be rotated between Southern and Northern Nigeria and resolved that the next president of Nigeria should emerge from the Southern Region. Read Also: PHOTOS: Southern Govs meet in Lagos 3. Security a. The Forum reviewed the security situation in the country and commends security operatives for their relentless efforts in restoring security and safety and commiserates with families and loved ones of those who have fallen in the line of duty; b. Re-emphasised the need for State Police; c. Resolved that if for any reason security institutions need to undertake an operation in any State, the Chief Security Officer of the State must be duly informed; d. the forum frowns at selective criminal administration of Justice and resolved that arrests should be made within the ambit of the Law and fundamental human rights; e. Set a timeline of Wednesday, 1st September, 2021 for the promulgation of the anti-open grazing law in all member States; and f. 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 combat security challenges. 4. Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) Law: i. The Forum commends the National Assembly for the progress made in the passage of the PIB; ii. The Forum rejects the proposed 3% and support the 5% share of the oil revenue to the host community as recommended by the House of Representatives; iii. The forum also rejects the proposed 30% share of profit for the exploration of oil and gas in the basins; iv. However, the forum rejects the ownership structure of the proposed Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC). The Forum disagrees that the company be vested in the Federal Ministry of Finance but should be held in trust by Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) since all tiers of Government have stakes in that vehicle. 5. In order to consolidate our democracy and strengthen the Electoral process, the Southern Governors’ Forum reject the removal of the Electronic transmission of the election result from the electoral act; and also rejects the confirmation of exclusive jurisdiction in pre-election matters on the Federal High Court. 6. The Forum unanimously chose Lagos State as its permanent secretariat and appreciated the Governor of Lagos State for the wonderful hosting of this meeting while commending him for his good work in the State. Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu SAN Governor, Ondo State and Chairman, Southern Governors’ Forum

36 investors move to buy power plants put up for sale by FG By Emma Ujah

Thirty-six power sector investors have submitted Expressions of Interest (EoIs) for the five National Integrated Power Plants (NIPPs) put up for sale by the federal government. Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Alex Okoh, told journalists in Abuja, yesterday, that the privatisation of the five NIPP plants was in line with the bureau’s 2021 workplan as approved by the National Council on Privatisation (NCP). The affected plants are: Benin Generation Company Limited at Ihovba, Edo State; Calabar Generation Company Limited, Cross River State; Geregu Generation Company Limited, Kogi State; Olorunsogo Generation Company Limited, Ogun State; and Omotosho Generation Company Limited, Ondo State. According to BPE boss, the five NIPPs put up for sale would be sold as planned, in line with President Muhhamdu Buhari administration’s determination to resuscitate the power plants and put them to full use for the much needed power needs of the economy. Mr. Okoh revealed that based on the approval of the NCP, the BPE has already engaged the services of a Technical Adviser who would assist the agency in the transaction process. He added that the Evaluation Committee constituted by the Management of the Bureau, which also included nominees of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company, has commenced work on the EoIs. The initial process was for the ten NIPP plants to be privatized. That process commenced in 2012 and by November 2013 bidders had submitted technical and financials proposals for their privatisation. “In the Request for Proposal (RfP), the bidders were informed that they would be required to pay the full purchase consideration for the acquisition of 80% equity in the NIPP generation companies”, Mr. Okoh stated, adding that an approval was given through the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) in February 2016, to proceed with a phased implementation of the programme by negotiating with the Preferred Bidders of the four (4) NIPP generation companies with the least challenges. However, the D-G noted that the transaction was eventually stalled largely due to the liquidity challenges in the power sector, amongst other factors. He said that the challenges were being addressed comprehensively by the federal government through various programmes like the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), the World Bank Distribution Intervention Programme (DISREP), the Ministry of Finance and Central Bank’s interventions in addressing the sector’s payments management, as well as, the bottlenecks between the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). Mr Okoh added that with the earlier termination of the NIPP transaction in accordance with the provisions of the RfP, the bureau after securing the approval of the NCP of its 2021 workplan, subsequently presented a memo to Council at its 2nd meeting for the year 2021 held on Thursday, 22ndApril, 2021 for approval of the transaction, as well as, an expedited transaction process, following which council approved the privatisation of the five NIPP Plants. Vanguard

[BREAKING] Igboho: Security agents must notify us before undertaking any operations in our states -Southern govs by Kayode Oyero

Southern governors, on Monday, resolved that security agencies must notify them as the chief security officer of their states before they carried out any operations within their domain. This was contained in a communiqué issued today at the end of the governors’ meeting in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos State. The communiqué didn’t mention the recent raid of the Department of State Services on the Ibadan residence of Yoruba activist, Sunday Adeyemo also known as Sunday Igboho but the decision of the governors was a veiled reference to the incident. The governors in the communiqué, “Re-emphasised the need for State Police; “Resolved that if for any reason security institutions need to undertake an operation in any State, the Chief Security Officer of the State must be duly informed; “Frowns at selective criminal administration of Justice and resolved that arrests should be made within the ambit of the Law and fundamental human rights.”

BREAKING: Next president should emerge from the South – Southern Governors.by Sodiq Oyeleke

Southern states governors have agreed that the successor of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), should come from the Southern region. This was part of the decisions they reached at their meeting on Monday in Lagos. During the meeting, the governors also deliberated on insecurity, constitutional amendment, PIB and anti-open grazing law in all member-states. While commending lawmakers for the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, they opposed three per cent revenue allocation for the host communities. Read Also Why I won’t care about our next president’s tribe, party — Ajiboye, BSN scribe No serious politician will ignore opportunity of becoming President –Fayemi The meeting held eight weeks after the governors met in Asaba, the Delta State capital. Aside from the host governor, others at the meeting are Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Emmanuel Udom (Akwa Ibom), Diri Duoye (Bayelsa), Willie Obiano (Anambra), Ben Ayade (Cross Rivers), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), David Umahi (Ebonyi), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Hope Uzodimma (Imo), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Adegboyega Oyetola (Osun), Oluwaseyi Makinde (Oyo), and Nyesom Wike (Rivers).

Battle For Aso Rock: APC to Recommend Names to Buhari by MidwestHerald

As Muhammadu Buhari begins counting down to his final days in office as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces, it can be said that the politicking has just begun. Finding a suitable successor in less than two years could be daunting. However, the Caretaker Committee of the Ruling All Progressives Party (APC), led by the Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, is doing its best to streamline the number of Presidential aspirants in the party to make the process less cumbersome. An impeccable source who confided in The Street Journal said the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC has come up with three names that will slug it out at the Presidential primary elections. These three special candidates, according to our sources, served as governors at one point in time in their political careers. When this newspaper pressed further, it was gathered that one of the potential flag-bearers is from the South-South of the country, the other is from the South-West and the last is said to be from the North-East region. It is worthy to note that the caretaker committee, inaugurated in June 2020, following the dissolution of the Adams Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee (NWC), has had its tenure extended twice for six months each and now indefinitely by the President himself. Despite not having a definite date for the party’s convention, there has been a rave of mass defection to the APC, an indication that Buhari’s support for Buni-led caretaker committee has not ended in futility. This strategy being used by the National Working Committee to choose a Presidential candidate could be a means of quelling existing tensions that have rocked the party over who will succeed Buhari; a development that has resulted in ligitations and counter litigations. Also, selecting two Southerners and one Northern candidate as potential Presidential flag-bearers of the APC could be seen as a means to douse the ethnic and religious tension that has engulfed the country amid calls for restructuring and secessionists agitations. However, Nigerians are not oblivious to fact that many of the decampees, especially governors from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) all have political intentions regarding 2023. While the offices they intend to run for is still not known, the question is, will they be sidelined and their hopes dashed? So, how this strategy will play out is a question that begs an answer. Other concerned APC members have seemingly expressed concerns about how President Buhari suddenly abandoned his delegatory style of leadership and has developed a keen interest in the affairs of the APC. It is even more interesting with the fact that activities related to the party no longer hold in the APC secretariat but Aso Rock. In one of his recent interviews with Arise Television, Mr Buhari had hinted that he will never allow paper-weight politicians to succeed to him. According to him, anyone who believes he/she is capable of stepping into his shoes must first join the ruling APC. The implication of Buhari’s comment is that the door had been shut to other parties seeking to produce Nigeria’s next President in 2023. The President said, “About succession, what this administration can do is to make sure APC lasts beyond this administration. “We have started registration from ward to local government and to the state level. That way, the APC can know the number of members they have state by state and local government by local government so that by the time this administration goes, the legacy can continue. “And that is the best way to go for the party and for the country.” While giving more details about the zoning and succession plan of the APC, Buhari reiterated that the party will be the sole deciding factor. “Shouldn’t we allow the party to decide, I just told you that we started from the bottom to the top. I told the acting chairman and a committee to give me the report by the end of the month on the convention they are going to conduct and then arrange general elections until 2023. All the elections. “And we started this from bottom to the up, so that members of the party will be sure they are involved in decision making. Nobody is just going to sit in Lagos and tell them what to do. This is what we are arranging. Succession plan depends on the party. The party will sit and make its decision by the constituencies they won. “So those who want to be president, better join APC,” Buhari said.

Military Sources Reveals Why Nnamdi Kanu’s Arrest Won’t Stop Nigerian Army Operations In S-East Akelicious

The Nigerian Army and the fighter aircraft combing the South-East states will continue their operations despite the arrest of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu. The sources said the mission has not been accomplished. Akelicious learnt that the IPOB and its security wing, Eastern Security Network are believed to have migrated deep into the Cameroonian territory, from where they will launch out at a future time when the security agencies must have dropped their guards. Kanu was arrested and extradited from Kenya on June 18, and a number of ESN and IPOB members had been arrested before Kanu’s eventual arrest. Military sources told SaharaReporters that the army has not been given any order to withdraw troops from South-East or to stop its operations, because many of the ESN and IPOB locations had not yet been explored. “The military operation will continue in the South-East. Fighter aircraft will continue to comb forests and hideouts based on intelligence. It will not stop; it will only intensify with Kanu’s arrest. There is a strong suspected alliance with groups in Cameroon and even operational joint training camps. The military is working on this intel,” one of the sources revealed. See also 36 Governors Agree To End Nomadic Cattle Rearing Akelicious had reported in the last week of June that IPOB formed a coalition with a separatist movement in Cameroon in the areas of training for combat operations and arms exchange. While IPOB, through ESN, is fighting Nigerian security forces to establish the Biafra Republic in the South-East, the Ambazonian War of Liberation (AWL) and Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF) are pushing to break away from Cameroon. The leadership of AWL had announced that they had established a relationship with IPOB towards pursuing a common goal of political and economic liberation. Also, Nnamdi Kanu and the leader of AWL, Dr Lucas Cho Ayaba, have indicated plans to work together in the struggles for their two regions, according to a recording of a Zoom meeting posted on social media, which was shown by the IPOB leader. See also Woman Buries Her Dead Husband With A Live Snake “We are in the know of what is happening…We are closely monitoring,” a security source who did not want to be named, had said. “There is a link between them because the Ambazonian militants are offering training to IPOB members,” another source had said. Akelicious had on June 22 reported that military aircraft returned to Imo State and parts of the South-East in a fresh search for IPOB and ESN members, causing fresh tensions in the areas. SaharaReporters had learnt that the military aircraft frequented the communities to locate the camps and hideouts of the groups. In December 2020, the Nigerian military first deployed aircraft and soldiers to communities in the South-East region in search of ESN members. Nnamdi Kanu, leader of IPOB, had on December 12, 2020, launched the ESN, saying the regional security outfit, just like Amotekun in the South-West, would help to tackle crimes and criminalities. See also Alleged murder: Danish is police’s prime suspect, says witness SaharaReporters had In May 2021 reported how the Nigerian Army drafted reinforcement troops from some of its formations fighting insurgency in Borno State to join the troops in the South-East region over the military’s clash with IPOB and ESN operatives. Military sources had confirmed to SaharaReporters that the reinforcements were drawn from some battalions including the 231 Tank Battalion in Biu, Borno State, which is under the 3 Armoured Division, Jos, Plateau State. President Muhammadu Buhari had also in May held a meeting with the service chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police at the Presidential villa, Abuja, telling them to adopt certain security measures in the South-East and the South-South geopolitical zones of the country. Akelicious had gathered that the police and the army operatives were still conducting intelligence operations in the South-East and South-South, and will intensify their reach based on the new President’s directive.

Igboho Met With Prominent Yoruba People, Kings, Chiefs Over Secession Agitation—Pastor Tunde Bakare BY SAHARAREPORTERS

Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Citadel Global Community Church has said calls for self-determination in Nigeria were caused by the failure of the country’s leaders. Bakare noted that if everything was well with the country, none of the agitations for the Oodua Republic or the Biafra Republic would be taken seriously. He stated this in an interview with BBC Yoruba on Saturday while speaking on the state of the nation. “I and Sunday Igboho haven't seen one another for once. The time he was supposed to come and see me, he couldn't but he has seen other prominent people in Yoruba land, he has seen kings, chiefs and others but if things are truly going on well in the country, everyone is living fine, has food to eat, has water to drink... “There was no one demanding what Sunday Igboho requested for before this time but I know when things turn around for good and those at the top see that things have become bad and start making a change... all these agitations, the Yoruba elders will call them because the elders have not asked them to go out and demand the Oduduwa Republic. “When I was birthed and up until I was three, I couldn't walk, I was crawling on my butt but my mother never left me, she didn't kill me, she didn't leave me to go to another man. She stayed in my father's house and she stood by me till I became someone who was staggering to walk. “God that has helped my mother not to leave me to go elsewhere, we won't leave this country for another. My children went abroad to study, before they left, we all signed a document that when they graduate, they will come back to Nigeria because this is their home. ”If we don't make Nigeria better and we flee to other countries, we are simply going to the countries of those who have made their countries better. ”You can only be 'B' citizens over there, you can never be 'A' citizens. Let's all calm down and see how we can make Nigeria great. These politicians are not more than us, it is just that we do not have one voice. Once we have one voice, we will leave the forest and make a way. ”What will help stop the agitations is to make Nigeria better. ”I can see the leaders have come out to say they are doing amendments here and there. I was part of the 2014 Confab. God helped me and some other persons to do great things there. There was a memo that I, by the grace of God submitted there and it was accepted widely. “Nigeria, by the grace of God will work. When we make the country better, it will be for the good of all but if we cannot move forward, let us return to where we have come from. There was a plan our forefathers from the North, South had on how to govern the country before the military came. ”Someone stood up in May 1966, declaring there will no longer be a federation. The declaration aligns with the military system because for them, it is an issue of obey the last order but since then, things have gone awry. If we can't go forward, let's return to where we have come from but for Igboho, IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) and the rest, when they see that things are becoming better, they will stop agitating.” Bakare, a former presidential aspirant noted that Nigeria's politicians have become very corrupt. He stated that President Muhammadu Buhari enjoyed wide support in the 2015 presidential election because many people thought he would weed out corrupt politicians. He, however, added that this has not been the case. Bakare also said the security architecture of the country had gone awry under the Buhari administration and that no one can sleep well. He said, “Corruption brought them here, not politics. “In my father's house, I can't remember if we have a key to lock doors but things have gone awry. They say the older generations have destroyed the nation, it started from the youth because those who took over power and started killing one another in the military, we have those who are in their 20s, in their 30s, they brought us here. Now they are old, they don't want to leave the government. “If the military gets to a country, they ensure they ruin such country, they ensure they cart away all valuables. Of course, there are good professionals among the military men, but there are also bad eggs. “Our politicians are not practising politics but corruption, what if the military destroyed everything since 1999 that it got to the democratic government. “We know some of the politicians were formerly military men who dropped the uniform to wear the Agbada, you don't know whether they are soldiers or politicians, things have gone sour except we cry out so those who are more powerful than us can help us. ”I was in my house when I got a call. I started the Save Nigeria Group so that Nigeria will not be ruined. I don't have a personal relationship with (Goodluck) Jonathan or (Umaru) Yar'Adua, God showed me a vision then I started coming out to say things must be done right then people like Prof Wole Soyinka, General Akinrinade joined me and other prominent people joined us. ”We came out because we wanted to save Nigeria from denigrating, to look for those who are better than us abroad and even here in Nigeria so we can sit and have deliberations as to how it would get better. “That's what I was doing, then Buhari saw me and said this man walking the streets seeking a means to make this country better with lots of support, must be someone we can embrace. ”We also wanted to know the plans he had for Nigeria and you know we had supporters and we didn't want him to go astray, we met in Kaduna. I had planned to do a lot of good things for Nigeria but when (Obafemi) Awolowo led the first time and couldn't succeed the second time and some people said the good person will not win, I left them to continue their politics, God has called me to my own ministry. “Now, everyone felt that someone who was once a senior officer in the military, once he gets there, the corrupt politicians will disappear but rather than that, it became worse. “The country's security architecture even worsened (such) that we cannot sleep with two eyes closed. It's so bad but God is not asleep. Some of my friends do criticise me that I was one of Buhari's supporters and I had to tell them that I openly supported this man in 2011 but I am not saying I'm not seeing him again. He is someone that I visit sometimes and advise him on what to do and he will listen but once I leave, there is nothing to show for it. ”Later, I started staying back in my house but I have time to pray and plead for mercy. God himself led Prophet Samuel to anoint Saul, he didn't go to meet Saul himself, God told him that Saul was chosen and when Saul disobeyed, God took the position from him. “No one has ever seen the end of the world. It seems this government has gone overboard, we can only pray for it. May God have mercy on us.”