South-East Governors Forum, on Sunday, waded into the rift between former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim and billionaire businessman, Prince Authur Eze.
Chairman of the Forum, Governor David Umahi of Ebony State said the Forum had urged the two leaders to cease hostilities to enable the governors come in and make peace.
Anyim and Eze have recently engaged themselves in media war over unresolved disagreements dating back to the time of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
However, governors of the South-East states, during their virtual meeting, directed Ohanaeze Ndigbo National President, Nnia Nwodo, to interface with the two leaders with a view to amicably resolving the rift.
Governor Umahi spoke to newsmen about Anyim and Eze, and the Eastern railway corridor at the end of the Forum’s virtual meeting.
Eastern railway corridor
Also, the the governors said they would liaise with the Federal Government to make funds available for the Eastern railway corridor.
According to the governors, there is currently no funding for the corridor, which cuts across South-South, South-East, North Central and North-East regions of the country.
He said the governors will dialogue with the Federal Government, in conjunction with governors of other regions affected, in order to achieve the set objective.
Umahi said: “It is an existing railway line and it is very important to our people. It is just to repair them and revamp the terminals.”
He also said the Forum will engage the contractor handling the Ajaokuta-Abuja-Kaduna gas pipeline to ensure that the South-East is integrated into the project.
“Since the pipelines are going to come from the South-South and South-East, we feel the states in the region should also benefit. So we are also engaging the Federal Government on this,” the governor added.
The governors also thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for funding the second Niger Bridge and the Enugu International Airport renovation projects.
Umahi said the August 30 restart of the airport was on course, while work on the bridge is progressing and is expected to be completed by 2022.
The governors, according to Mr. Umahi, also agreed to unveil the name of the joint security outfit of the region during their next meeting.
He noted that “after that, we will give go-ahead to our Attorney-Generals to go ahead with the draft bills which will then be sent to the five state Houses of Assembly for deliberation and pashsage into law.”
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