July 05, (THEWILL) – Lagos State’s Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has started receiving his counterparts from the Southern States at Alausa, Ikeja, the venue of their meeting.
Some of the Governors who already arrived at the meeting included: Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Adegboyega Oyetola (Osun), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), and Godwin Obaseki (Edo) represented by his deputy, Philip Shaibu.
Others are Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Emmanuel Udom (Akwa Ibom), Diri Duoye (Bayelsa), Willie Obiano (Anambra), Ben Ayade (Cross Rivers), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), David Umahi (Ebonyi), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Hope Uzodinma (Imo), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), and Oluwaseyi Makinde (Oyo).
The governors are meeting in Lagos on the state of the nation.
The meeting is a follow-up to the one earlier held in Asaba, the Delta state capital.
THEWILL reports that the governors had agreed on far-reaching conclusions on open grazing, restructuring and calls for state police, at the Asaba meeting.
But a few days after the meeting, the Presidency faulted the ban on open grazing, when the presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, in a statement, said, “It is equally true that their (governors’) announcement is of questionable legality, given the constitutional right of all Nigerians to enjoy the same rights and freedoms within every one of our 36 states (and FCT), regardless of the state of their birth or residence.”
Also, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, slammed the southern governors for banning open grazing.
According to the AGF, open grazing ban is the same thing as Northern governors banning spare parts trading in their own region, considering the fact that southerners comprise a majority of spare parts traders in the North.
The President had also at an NTA interview in June, supported Malami’s position, adding that he had directed that grazing routes be recovered.
