Tag: Southern and Middle-Belt Alliance

“Implement 2014 Confab Report, release Nnamdi Kanu, Southern, Middle-Belt leaders urge Tinubu

Aminu Imam

The Southern and Middle-Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF), yesterday, urged President Bola Tinubu to implement the recommendations of the 2014 national conference report, while also encouraging him to take urgent steps to release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu. The leaders made the request in a communique issued yesterday night, at the end of the forums meeting in Abuja. Chaired by Edwin Clark, the forum is made up of leaders from the middle-belt zone, as well as groups including the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Afenifere, and the Pan Niger-Delta…

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2023 Election: “We’ll resist another ‘doctrine of necessity’, Interim Govt” – Southern, M’Belt leaders vow

Aminu Imam

Leaders and elders from the South and Middle-Belt have warned that any attempt to scuttle the 2023 general elections and impose an interim government would be vehemently resisted. The SMBLF stated this in their communiqu released yesterday, after they rose from an extraordinary meeting in Abuja on Thursday. The leaders, under the aegis of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) also cautioned candidates at all levels to shun all acts of violence, before, during, and after the elections. While they stressed the need to give peace a chance,…

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APC Presidential Primary: Southern Middle-Belt leaders laud Buhari

Aminu Imam

Congratulate Tinubu The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) has lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for staying true to his promise of non-interference in the process of electing the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress, (APC). According to the group, given the presidents earlier reported request to the APC governors to allow him to pick his successor, SMBLF considers the process leading to the emergence of the APCs presidential flag bearer as reasonably transparent, fair and credible. The Forum congratulated former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,…

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2023 Presidency: “Reject Northern aspirants”, Southern, Middle-Belt leaders tell APC, PDP delegates

Aminu Imam

The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, (SMBLF), has condemned the schemes by the two major political parties in the country, the All Progressives Congress, (APC), and the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), to foist a northern president on the nation, calling on delegates to their national conventions to be sure to vote for only southern presidential aspirants. The forum, under the leadership of Pa Edwin Clark, met in Abuja on Thursday to deliberate on the state of the nation, particularly the worsening insecurity, the 2023 General Elections; and what they…

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Southern, Middle-Belt leaders demand suspension of 2023 General Elections

Aminu Imam

Citing the shortcomings of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Nigeria Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS) has urged the Federal Government to suspend the 2023 general elections. The group, in a statement yesterday, signed by Otunba Shade Olukoya for the Ilana Oodua; Prof. Yussuf Turaki (Middle Belt) Tony Nnadi (South East) and Dr. Rotimi Olokodana (South West), noted that the step was to discourage the continued operationalisation of the document. It also called for a formal announcement by the Federal Government that it had received the constitutional grievances and…

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Secessionist agitation: Crisis rocks Southern, M\Belt alliance as Akintoye pulls out

Aminu Imam

A fresh crisis has rocked secessionist agitators in Southern Nigeria and the Middle-Belt as one of the arrowheads of the self-determination coalition, Prof. Banji Akintoye, resigned as the Chairman of the group known as the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination. Until his resignation, NINAS was the umbrella body of self-determination groups in the South and Middle-Belt regions of Nigeria, with Ilana Omo Oodua representing the Yoruba bloc, Lower Niger Congress, representing the South-East and South-South, and the Middle-Belt Rennaissance Movement representing the Middle-Belt region. Akintoye, in a statement issued…

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2023: ‘Northern presidency will worsen secessionist agitations’ – Southern, M/Belt leaders warn

Aminu Imam

Leaders of thought, under the aegis of the Southern and Middle-Belt Alliance, (SAMBA) have faulted the statement credited to the Northern Governors Forum, (NGF), regarding power rotation and declared that it was capable of fuelling secessionist agitations in the country. The group gave the warning in an issued statement, titled: Your statement on 2023 Presidency will fuel agitations for division, SAMBA warns northern governors“, signed by its spokesman, Rwang Pam, in Abuja yesterday. The group noted that despite the fact that there was no express provision for zoning in the…

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