The Presidency has criticized the decision of seventeen governors of the southern region to ban open grazing in the region, saying their resolutions on the herders-farmers crisis offered “no solution”.
The presidency’s reaction came about two weeks after the southern governors converged on Asaba, Delta State, and resolved to ban open grazing and movement of cattle by foot over incessant cases of kidnappings and killings attributed to herdsmen in the region.
In a press statement on Monday, President Muhammadu Buhari’s senior media assistant, Garba Shehu, said the legality of the governors’ resolution was questionable.
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The presidency also accused the southern governors of attempting to “demonstrate their power” by engaging in “other acts of politicking”.
THE WHISTLER reported that as part of resolutions reached at the end of their meeting, the southern governors had also called for restructuring of the country to address issues threatening the nation’s unity.
But Shehu, in his statement, said “It is very clear that there was no solution offered from their resolutions to the herder-farmer clashes that have been continuing in our country for generations,” adding that the southern governors’ band of open grazing, “is of questionable legality, given the Constitutional right of all Nigerians to enjoy the same rights and freedoms within every one of our 36 states (and FCT) -regardless of the state of their birth or residence.”
The presidency added that the southern governors’ declaration had, “been preempted, for whatever it is intended to achieve and Mr. President, who has rightly been worried about these problems more than any other citizen in consultation with farmers and herders alike, commissioned and approved an actionable plan of rehabilitating grazing reserves in the states, starting with those that are truly committed to the solution and compliant with stated requirements.
“With veterinary clinics, water points for animals, and facilities for herders and their families including schooling – through these rehabilitated reserves, the Federal Government is making far-reaching and practical changes allowing for different communities to co-exist side-by-side: supporting farmers to till their fields, herders to rear their livestock and Nigerians everywhere to be safe.”
Shehu said President Buhari remained committed to resolving the herders-farmers crisis as well as “the associated problem of the gun-wielding “killer herdsmen.””
He, however, noted that, “The entire country is acutely aware of the strain the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on public finances, for both Federal and States. Still, given the pressing urgency of addressing the perennial challenges, the federal funding for the project that has been delayed is now being partly unlocked. Actual work for the full actualization of the modern reserve system in a few of the consenting states should take off in June.”
Meanwhile, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, had similarly tackled the southern governors over the planned ban on open grazing in the region.
“It is a dangerous provision for any governor in Nigeria to think he can bring any compromise on the freedom and liberty of individuals to move around,” Malami had said during a recent interview on Channels TV’s ‘Politics Today’.
“It is about constitutionality within the context of the freedoms expressed in our constitution. Can you deny the rights of a Nigerian?
“For example, it is as good as saying, perhaps, maybe, the northern governors coming together to say they prohibit spare parts trading in the north.”