The Nigerian Southern Governor’s Forum at its Meeting Today, Thursday 16th September 2021 held in the Government House, Enugu State reviewed the State of the Nation and the progress of implementation of the decisions reached in her previous meetings and further resolved as follows :
1.Expressed satisfaction at which the States in the Southern Nigeria are enacting or amending the Anti-Open Grazing Laws which align with the uniform template and aspiration of Southern Governor’s and encouraged the States that are yet to enact this law to do so expeditiously.
2.Encouraged the full operationalization of already agreed regional security outfits which would meet, share intelligence and collaborate, to ensure the securityand safety of the region.
3.Reaffirmed it’s earlier commitment to Structural and Fiscal Federalism as resolved at the inaugurating meeting of the Forum held on Tuesday, 11th May, 2021 at Asaba, Delta State and emphasized the need for Southern States and emphasized the need for the Southern States to leverage the legislative competence of their respective States Houses of Assembly as well as representation in the National Assembly to pursue it’s inclusion in the Nigeria Constitution through the ongoing Constitutional Amendment.
4.Followong from paragraph 3 above,the meeting resolved to support the position that the collection of VAT Falls within the powers of the States.
5.Expressed satisfaction with the handling of issues around the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB ) and ownership of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by the larger Nigerian Governor’s Forum.
6.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.
7.The Forum thanked the host Governor, RT. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, and choose Rivers as the next host for the Southern Governor’s Forum Meeting in November 2021
Signed:
Arakunrin Olwarotimi O Akeredolu, SAN. Governor Ondo State and Chairman Southern Governor’s Forum.
