Governors from the South East, under the umbrella of the South East Governors’ Forum, met in Enugu on Tuesday with a resolve to meet with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to plead for the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
They also planned to discuss other pressing issues that would be of interest to the region and the country with President Tinubu.
The decisions of the governors were contained in a communiqué read to the media by the Chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum and Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma, after their meeting at the Lion Building, Government House, Enugu, in Enugu State.
The Chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum, flanked by his colleagues – Alex Otti of Abia, Charles Soludo of Anambra, Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi, and the host governor, Peter Mbah of Enugu State – while reading the communiqué, said that the call to plead with President Bola Tinubu for the release of the IPOB leader is to foster peace in the region.
The forum maintained that the release of Nnamdi Kanu would open a window of opportunity for further dialogue on how to overcome the prevailing winds of insecurity in the region.
The communiqué added: “The Forum deliberated on the reviewed report of the South East Security and Economic Summit held in Owerri on the 28th of September, 2023, and agreed to implement the aspects of the report pertaining to security and economic integration. They affirmed their desire to put actionable plans on the key issues agreed upon.”
They also, during the meeting, commiserated with the government and people of Abia State, Ebonyi State, Imo State, the South East, Nigeria, and Chief Ogbonnaya Onu’s family on the demise of His Excellency, Ogbonnaya Onu, the immediate past Minister of Science and Technology.
In preparation for his burial, the forum announced the setting up of a nine-man burial committee to be chaired by the former Senate President, Senator Pius Anyim.
The Forum also received a delegation including former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations Chief Emeka Anyaoku, and the Obi of Onitsha, HRM Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe.