BREAKING: Presidency Refuses To Apologise For Cancelling Meeting With S/South Leaders

The Presidency has declined South-South governor’s request to offer “unreserved public apology” to leaders from the region after it cancelled a scheduled meeting with them on Tuesday.

THE WHISTLER reported that the South-South leaders had accused the presidency of embarrassing, disgracing and disrespecting the region and its leaders by cancelling the meeting scheduled to hold in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at the last minute after two previous postponements.

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, who spoke on behalf of the South-South leaders on Tuesday night, demanded unreserved public to the region and its people from the presidency.

The presidency was said to have called the meeting to discusss pressing issues affecting the region, especially in the aftermath of the recent #EndSARS protests and violence. The Chief of Staff to the president, Ibrahim Gambari, was supposed to lead the presidential delegation to the region.

Failure to do so, Okowa said, would mean that leaders from the region would not honour the Presidency’s reconvene of the meeting.

“We deserve as a region unreserved public apology to the region, particularly to our traditional rulers and the leaders in this zone, which include our Christian leaders, opinion leaders, our women and our youths, and also the governors of the zone who were voted into office and that is the least that we expect for us to accept the reconvene of this meeting,” Okowa had said.

But responding in series of tweets on Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari’s senior media assistant, Garaba Shehu, explained the circumstances that led to the cancellation of the meeting, but failed to apologise as requested by the South-South leaders.

Shehu wrote, “The Presidency wishes to explain that the absence of the federal government delegation at the planned meeting with governors and stakeholders of the South-South region was necessitated by an emergency security meeting summoned by the President, certainly not out of disrespect.

“The delegation to the meeting, under the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, ministers and heads of security and intelligence agencies were in full readiness to proceed to Port Harcourt until they were directed to stay back for the emergency security meeting.

“This information and regret for the inconvenience caused were conveyed to the hosts of the meeting through what we believed were the right channels.

“As may have been gleaned from the statement read by the Minister of Police Affairs, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, the extraordinary National Security Council meeting, under the President, was called in view of the gravity of the security situation affecting all parts of the country,.including the South-South in the aftermath of the ENDSARS protests, and the need to rise to protect our national security and territorial integrity.

“The President is strongly and resolutely committed to hearing from leaders, stakeholders and our youth on burning issues affecting all parts of the federation, and to this effect, a new date for the meeting with the South-South will be agreed after due consultations with the parties concerned.

“Once again, the unavoidable postponement of the meeting is regretted.”