Leaders of the Southern Nigeria People’s Assembly (SNPA), including former Vice-President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Bishop Emmanuel Gbonigi and others, rose from their fifth General Assembly in Enugu yesterday and endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan, urging Nigerians to vote for him.

The assembly, which held a closed plenary, rose about 6:50pm at the Golden Royale Hotels, Enugu, after reading a communiqué by Dr. Ekwueme, Bishop Gbonigi and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark.

In the communiqué, the leaders resolved that the South would resist any attempt by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to put to use the controversial 30,000 new polling booths it created, which gave more advantage to the North.

“The Southern Nigeria People’s Assembly hereby endorses President Jonathan for the presidential election,” the communiqué stated.

On the National Conference held last year, the leaders called for its implementation in furtherance of the ideals of a strong, united nation.

During the plenary, the leaders of the three geopolitical zones in the South cried out over the fate of the country in view of the present political tension caused by electioneering activities.

The South-West delegation led by Archbishop Gbonigi proposed a meeting between the Southern leaders and their Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) counterparts on the way forward.

The leader of the South-South delegation to the three-day conference, Chief Clark, attributed perceived intense opposition against President Jonathan by the North to alleged insistence that he should be out of power because he is from a minority ethnic group.

Dr. Ekwueme, who led the South-East delegation, raised issues of urgent importance surrounding the botched attempt to create polling booths by INEC, saying the fate the South would have suffered at the poll was the reason the assembly confronted the development, leading to court action.

Also present at the session were the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Gary Enwo Igariwey; two former Presidents-General of Ohanaeze, Justice Eze Ozobu and Dr. Dozie Ikedife; Chief Mbazulike Amaechi; Senator Roland Owie from Edo State; Senator Ewa Henshaw; Senator Femi Okurounmu; former Inspector-General of Police, Sir Mike Okiro, and former Lagos State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, among others.

•Adapted from The Nation. Photo shows Dr. Ekwueme.

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