South-South group lists restructuring, others as conditions for votes in 2023

A group simply known as South-South Study Group (3SG) on Saturday listed restructuring as one of the conditions for support of political parties in the 2023 general elections.

In a statement issued by its spokesman, Prince Otoks-Dan Princewill, the group also listed other factors that would shape its voting pattern next year.

These include a commitment to devolution of powers to states, community policing and granting of jurisdiction for federating units on electricity, among others.

The statement read: “The people of the South-South geopolitical zone comprising Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Rivers States have always championed the values of fairness, equity, autonomy and solidarity as motivations for federating with other Nigerians in the Federal Democratic Republic.

“The people of the zone were therefore in the forefront of agitations to provide guarantees in the foundational constitutional compact to ensure that governance in Nigeria was not informed by the tyranny of any group or nationalities over others. This informed the concerns and representations of the people of the zone before the Willinks Minority Commission in 1957.

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“Despite the justifiable and recurrent fears and concerns expressed by the zone, the Nigerian polity has incrementally degenerated to a sorry state where the people of the South-South constantly have to reconsider if the cost of federating is worth the benefits to its people, thus making the call for restructuring ever more urgent.

“Restructuring from the South-South perspective simply refers to the policy and administrative remedies to cure existing defects and ensure lasting, effective, and ideal governance in Nigeria while enabling a better livelihood for all its citizens.”

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