July 5, 2021

The forum reiterates its commitment to the politics of equity, fairness, and unanimously agreed that the presidency of Nigeria be rotated between southern and northern Nigeria and resolved that the next president of Nigeria should emerge from the south

Barely six weeks after its meeting in Asaba, Delta, governors of the southern states have met in Lagos with a resolution that the next president of the country should come from the region.

This is a major bi-partisan endorsement of the position of the south on the 2023 Presidency. In Asaba meeting, the governors in unison called for the banning of open grazing with a caveat that open grazers are not welcomed in the south.

However at the Lagos meeting, the governors reiterated their position on state police, restructuring, open grazing and fiscal federalism.

“The forum reiterates its commitment to the politics of equity, fairness, and unanimously agreed that the presidency of Nigeria be rotated between southern and northern Nigeria and resolved that the next president of Nigeria should emerge from the south,” Rotimi Akeredolu, Ondo state governor, said on behalf of the Southern Governors Forum (SGF).

The governors reaffirmed their preference for true fiscal federalism, restructuring of the country and implementation of state police for effective policing of the country.

In a veiled reference to perceived arbitrariness among state actors, the governors said “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”.

In another veiled reference to the fate of Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho, the governors showed displeasure at the “selective criminal administration of justice and resolved that arrests should be made within the ambit of the law and fundamental human rights”.

They set a timeline of September 1 for the “promulgation of the anti-open grazing law in all member states”.