Alhaji Sani Shinkafi

By Iheanacho Nwosu

The National Secretary of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Alhaji Sani Shinkafi, has given reasons many northern delegates to the National Conference backed the South-East in its demand for additional state. He said the decision was to address a glaring injustice against the geo-political zone.

Shinkafi, who hails from Zamfara State, said it would be unfair for any Nigerian to kick against the creation of an additional state in the South-East when other zones enjoy higher number of states.

The delegate to the conference told newsmen in Abuja that his colleagues were particularly concerned about the seeming imbalance in the number of states in the South-East as well as the lack of sense of belonging in other states  before settling for the creation of 18 more states.

He said: “Two-thirds of the house adopted the creation of states. South-East in particular, I don’t think any of the delegates had spoken against the creation of a new state for the South-East. I think the South-East demanded five to six states. These are Njabani, Adada, Orashi,Aba, about five states. Most of the delegates or almost all of them agreed that the South-East had been marginalised in state creation and there is a criterion which the committee recommended. The zone has met the criterion which is the land mass and population.

“So based on that, any other geo-political zone agitating for additional state, the population must not be less than one million. So, nobody is denying any other zone, no matter how it is, in the South-East, in order for the political equation to be balanced in the zones, at least, the zone deserves a minimum of one state. Even if the recommendation fails, the South-East deserves additional state and nobody is doubting it”, he said.

On the conference’s decision on  zoning of political offices, the APGA scribe explained, “I think that recommendation is a welcome development, and it will also help us to advance our democracy, because if you look at it, this issue of zoning had brought a lot of confusion, division and disunity within a community even in a state.

“If you look at Zamfara State for example, the former governor, Ahmed Sani Yerima Bakura, was a governor for eight years, do you understand, while Mahmoud who is from my zone was a governor for only four years. Again, the present governor is from the same zone with the former governor who served for eight years.

“It is also good. If you look at it in the First Republic when we started practising the parliamentary system of government, Dr, Nnamdi Azikiwe who came from the South-East, was just a ceremonial president, Tafawa Balewa was the person in charge of administration. So, all along if you look at it since independence, there was no Igbo man who was democratically-elected as the president of Nigeria. South-West has produced  a president for eight years, Jonathan was a Vice President and now the President. In the North, we have produced Shagari, we have produced Yar’adua”, Shinkafi said.


Source: Sun