Insecurity in North not linked to derivation says S-South Govs

SIX governors of the South-South region, Wednesday, took a swipe at the recent outburst of their colleagues from the North for linking the insecurity in some parts of the country to the issue of 13% derivation, describing the comments as misplaced and unfortunat

At the First Ordinary Session of the governors of Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta states codenamed BRACED, 2012, at the Executive Chambers of the Cross River State Government,they insisted that the issue which should take the front burner for discussion in this country was the environmental degradation and pollution in the Niger Delta occasioned by oil exploitation that had adversely affected fishing and farming activities in the zone.

The BRACED Commission Governors Council questioned the rationale behind the non-exploitation of other mineral deposits in the different parts of the country to the detriment of the oil and gas reserves in the South-South.

A communiqué read on behalf of the commission by Chairman of the South-South Governors Forum and the host governor of the meeting, Senator Liyel Imoke, at the end of the meeting which started at about 9pm Tuesday and lasted up to 2.30am the next day, described the position of their colleagues in the North linking the alarming insecurity to the issue of 13 per cent derivation as misplaced.