“Our Region Most Short-Changed” – South-East Senators Lament

Senators from southeast, Wednesday met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja and presented the region’s concerns to him.

Deputy Senate President Senator Ike Ekweremadu led the lawmakers to the meeting which was held behind the closed-doors of the president’s office.

The lawmakers complained about the issue of appointments from the region, especially concerning the National Security Council.

Addressing State House correspondents later, the chairman of the South-East Caucus in the Senate, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, said the region “is far much short-changed at this time than other zones.”

Abaribe described the discussion as fruitful, saying President Buhari promised to look into all the issues raised.

He stated: “This is the South-East Caucus in the Senate and we came to see the President because of the issues we have in the southeast. We had a fruitful discussion with the president. He has promised us that he is going to look into the problems of South-East.

“We know that there are problems everywhere, but we also believe that the South-East is the zone that is far much short-changed at this time than other zones.

“We also talked about the issue of appointments from the South-East, especially with respect to the National Security Council. The president also told us that governors of the South-East have also engaged him on the same problems we engaged him on.

“There is a concerted effort from the people of the South-East to be sure that we engage with this government meaningfully. We are reassured with the response we got from the president and we look forward to further interaction with him in this manner.”

On his part, Ekweremadu said the concerned presented to Buhari included the issue of general infrastructure; roads, rail and airports as well as the issue of security with him and that of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).