Akpabio assures South-East of additional State at Nnamani’s funeral
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has assured the people of the South-East, or Ndigbo, of the National Assembly’s commitment to creating an additional state for the region.
With only five states, the South-East geopolitical zone currently has the fewest states in the country—a disparity many critics describe as a lingering structural marginalisation following the Civil War (1967–1970).
Speaking over the weekend at the funeral of Sir Albert Ikechukwu Nnamani in Ikem, Enugu State, Akpabio urged the region to prioritise peace and dialogue over confrontation. Sir Nnamani was the former Administrative Secretary of the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Area Development Commission (OMPADEC).
A promise of structural equity
Addressing the gathering, Akpabio emphasised that the parliament is ready to address the zone’s long-standing grievance:
”We are prepared as a parliament to make the right laws, to tinker with the Act, to dot the i’s and cross the t’s for Ndigbo to have, at least, an additional state, so that they will also be equal to the other zones of the country. This is the promise we make, and we stand by it.”
The call for peace and negotiation
As reported by Sunday Independent, Akpabio argued that development remains elusive without stability. He called on Igbo elders to guide the youth away from armed struggle and towards constructive negotiation.
