The Southern Leaders Forum (SLF) on Wednesday faulted President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement that issues of national discourse and unity should be taken to the National Council of State (NCS) and the National Assembly.

The forum which met in Lagos on Wednesday was represented by Chief John Nwodo, Prof. Joe Irukwu (South-East), Chief Edwin Clark, Albert Horsefall (South-South) and Chief Reuben Fasoranti and Chief Ayo Adebanjo from the South-West.

Speaking at a press conference titled ‘Only Restructuring will Ensure the Unity, Peace and Development of Nigeria’, the forum stated that although it does not question the legality of the nation’s Assembly and the NCS, the two bodies were not the appropriate ones to superintend over the discourse on the social contract binding the nation together.

“While the composition of the National Assembly is clearly jigged and indeed one of the bodies to be restructured, the National Council of State is not open to Nigerians. If any discourse is to take place on constitutional changes within the democratic framework, Mr. President is the one who has the responsibility to initiate the process,” the SLF said.

The group further accused the President of using his purported meeting with late Chief Emeka Ojukwu in his nationwide speech to play down the growing agitation for the restructuring of the country as the decision reached by both men in Daura in 2003 could not have been indoctrinated into the country’s constitution or that it cannot be reviewed.

“The meeting between the two of them could not have been a Sovereign National Conference whose decisions could not be reviewed. We agree with their conclusion that we should remain united but that does not foreclose discussions on the terms and conditions of the union.

“The claim that Nigeria’s unity is settled and not negotiable is not tenable. Every nation is in a daily dialogue and there is nothing finally settled in its life. Stable nations are still fine-tuning details of the architecture of their existence. How much more Nigeria that is yet to attain nationhood?

“If we are settled as a nation, we will not be dealing with the many cases of nation-building that are inflicting us today, which have made it extremely difficult to squarely face issues of growth and development” the forum added.

The southern leaders maintained that having spent much of their lives fighting for the unity of Nigeria based on justice, equity and fairness, it was their duty to advice the president to exhibit statesmanship, not ethnic, religious or regional partisanship in aligning the nation along federal lines to enable it tackle the feelings of marginalisation from some sections of the country.

Other southern leaders who were present at the event included Prof. Banji Akintoye, Chief Gani Adams, the national coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Tony Uranta, Supo Shonibare, Guy Ikokwu, Tony Nyiam, Prof. Walter Ofonagoro, a former Minister of Information under Ibrahim Babangida among others.