Turaki, Dokpesi, Uranta back southern governors on restructuring

The Justice and Equity for Peace and Unity Initiative (JEPUIN) – the premier pan-Nigerian organisation – yesterday backed most of the decisions taken by Southern governors at their meeting in Delta State.

In a statement by its Chairman, former Jigawa State Governor Saminu Turaki, Vice Chairman Raymond Dokpesi and General Secretary Tony Uranta, the group urged Northern governors to meet urgently to endorse their Southern counterparts’ “positive” recommendations.

JEPUIN, however, said another national conference was not necessary.

The statement reads in part: “We posit that the call for yet another national conference is not necessary since the robust report consensually endorsed by all delegates to the 2014 National Conference is a very logical and germane template for the study and updating of Nigeria’s Modus Vivendi.

“This will be seen by citizens as a genuine move to work out how Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities can live peacefully with each other, without incurring the unnecessary cost-burden on our evidently less sound economy, compared to the 2014 economy.

“JEPUIN agrees with the recommendation of the southern governors that in deference to the sensitivities of the various peoples of the country, there is an urgent need to review appointments into federal agencies (including security agencies) to reflect federal character.

“Nigeria’s overall population is heterogeneous, and the principle of federal character will go a long way to assuage the disenchantment of different nationalities of the nation with the current status quo.