Lower Niger Congress wants referendum

In its quest to correct what it described as the mistake of the past and political imbalance in Nigeria, the Lower Niger Congress (LNC), yesterday, called for a referendum.

The LNC’s membership is drawn from the 11 South-South and Southeast states. Describing the political imbalance in the country as unbearable, the group pushed for urgent referendum. It made the call during a solemn Assembly it organised yesterday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

The NLC also adopted a five-point mandate, which it said, remains the roadmap to achieving the set goals. The mandate include a call for a referendum, which, according to them, will decide whether they may wish to continue to be part of Nigeria;

They also demanded protection of assets belonging to the people of the lower Niger outside of their states of origin.

The group also wants a standing committee set up to further discuss ways of continuing on their quest to address the alleged injustice against the people of the region.

“People from the lower Niger, who either by appointment or election are doing government business in Abuja on behalf of the people must return home for a consultation before continuing in their duties to reflect the wishes of the people; otherwise, they will be on their own,” the group added.

President of the group, Mr. Fred Agboegba, said, Nigeria is a place, where there is law for the low and another for the high.

Also speaking, ex-Biafra warlord, Col. Joe Achuzie (rtd), expressed support for LNC’s position, saying that it was time to extricate the lower Niger from the shackles of imperialist Nigeria.

“I am in consonance with all that have been discussed here. It has been our long-time effort to extricate ourselves from this shackle called amalgamation,’’ Achuzie said.

Also speaking, Ankio Briggs described Nigeria as a confused and unjust entity, where there had been conspiracy to continue to oppress the Southeast and the South-South.

Briggs said that the conspiracy to sack President Goodluck Jonathan on March 28, 2015, has unwittingly united the Southeast and South-South regions.

She said the Southern people were not and can never be conquered, despite the constitutional imbalances.

Earlier, Mr. Tony Nnadi, a legal practitioner and secretary of the group, said that the struggle for referendum had been ongoing since 2007.

Nnadi explained that the call was informed by the fraud called the “1999 constitution,” adding that such a fraud must not be a working document for a united Nigeria.

He reiterated the group’s preparedness to take the country’s authorities to a legal contest so as to address the imbalances in the country.