In searching for a possible political solution, Governors from the South East, under the umbrella of the South East Governors’ Forum, held a meeting in Enugu on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, and resolved to meet with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to plead for the release of the detained Biafra agitator, Nnamdi Kanu. The forum also planned to discuss other crucial issues affecting the region and the country with President Tinubu.

The decisions of the Governors were stated in a communiqué read to the media by the Chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum and Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma, after their meeting at the Lion Building, Government House, Enugu, in Enugu State.

The Chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum, surrounded by his colleagues – Alex Otti of Abia, Charles Soludo of Anambra, Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi, and the host governor, Peter Mbah of Enugu State – while reading the communiqué, said that the call to plead with President Bola Tinubu for the release of the IPOB leader is to foster peace in the region. The forum asserted that the release of Nnamdi Kanu would lead to further dialogue on how to overcome the prevailing insecurity situation in the region.

The communiqué reads: “The Forum deliberated on the reviewed report of the South East Security and Economic Summit held in Owerri on the 28th of September, 2023, and agreed to implement the aspects of the report about security and economic integration. We affirmed our desire to put actionable plans on the key issues agreed upon.”

Members of the forum during the meeting, sympathized with the Government and people of Abia, Ebonyi, and Imo States, the South East, Nigeria, and Chief Ogbonnaya Onu’s family on the demise of His Excellency, Ogbonnaya Onu, the immediate past Minister of Science and Technology.

In preparation for his burial, the forum announced the setting up of a nine-man burial committee to be chaired by the former Senate President, Senator Pius Anyim. The Forum also received a delegation including former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations Chief Emeka Anyaoku, and the Obi of Onitsha, HRM Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe.

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