Senator Ned Nwoko has said that peace will only return to the South-East if the Federal Government takes two decisive steps — the creation of Anioma State and the release of Nnamdi Kanu.
The Delta North lawmaker stated that the region’s continued unrest stems from the feeling of marginalisation suffered by the people of the South-East for decades.
According to him, addressing this injustice will end the crisis and restore calm across the region.
Speaking during a television interview, Nwoko said, “The problem in the South-East has to do with the perceived injustice by successive governments. So, what needs to be done is the creation of a new state to make up the number to six, and then the release of Nnamdi Kanu. By the time you do these two things, I am almost certain that peace will return to the South-East.”
He described the continued detention of the IPOB leader as unfair and unnecessary, insisting that Kanu’s release would serve as a major step toward reconciliation and national unity.
Senator Nwoko, who is spearheading the campaign for Anioma State to be carved out of Delta State, said the move would correct the imbalance in the geopolitical structure of the country and give the South-East equal representation with other zones.
He noted that the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Constitution Review had already approved the creation of an additional state in the South-East.
The senate member expressed confidence that Anioma would be selected, saying that the proposal has gained strong support during public hearings.
“Now, what has happened is that the National Assembly has put together a committee to decide which state to choose. There are about seven states from the South-East, and we are one of them. At the public hearing in Enugu, we also presented our case, so I am almost certain that we will be chosen,” he said.
Nwoko added that President Bola Tinubu would likely support the initiative, describing it as one of the best gifts the president could give to the people of Anioma and the entire Igbo community.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that Nnamdi Kanu has been in the custody of the Department of State Services since June 2021 after his re-arrest. He is currently facing terrorism-related charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
In a related development, it could be recalled that the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives recently approved the creation of six new states in the country.
The decision was one of the major outcomes of a two-day constitutional review retreat chaired by Senator Barau Jibrin and Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu in Lagos over the weekend.