Governors of the South East met in Enugu yesterday, reassuring Igbo living in the North not to panic over the October 1 quit notice issued by Arewa youths forum. The governors said they were monitoring the situation to ensure that lives and property are guaranteed.
This was even as the governors reiterated their support for November governorship election in Anambra State.
Addressing newsmen at the end of the governors forum held in Enugu Government House, the governors said they were in touch both with the Federal Government and Northern Governors Forum to ensure that Igbo living in the North are safe.
Chairman of the South East Governors Forum, Chief Dave Umahi said they were briefed by the Igbo apex body on the quit notice, assuring that there is no need for anyone, especially those living in the North to panic.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo briefed us and of course we have been in touch with the federal government, we have also been in constant touch with our colleagues in the North and Ohanaeze has been in touch with our people in the North. We want to assure our people that we are in constant touch with the Northern Governors Forum and we commend their position, to make sure that lives and property of our people are fully secured.
“We will continue to monitor the development to make sure that no Igbo man living anywhere in this country is living in fear, disadvantaged or their lives threatened.
“The Geometric Power Company made a presentation to us about the establishment of independent gas plant and we commend them highly for a beautiful project. We have adopted that power plant as a model for regional integration.
“We throw our weight behind the success of the project. In the same vein, we commend Shell and our partners in the gas project in Asa.
“The governors in the South East propose to build five mega industrial clusters, one in each state and we have signified interest to benefit from the Asa gas project, to that effect, we have set up a committee to liaise with all stakeholders in this respect.
“We have taken notice of a number of gas clusters in the South East and the South East governors have directed the economic team and the secretariat to get the list and names of people in charge of the gas blocks, so that we can discuss with them towards developing it and ensuring that we partner with them for the benefit of our people.”
“We have also thrown our weight behind the November governorship election in Anambra State. We appeal to all stakeholders and our people to ensure we have a peaceful election in the state,” the governors said.
