The Ukwuani and Ndokwa Elders Forum (ULNEF) and other stakeholders in the Ndokwa/Ukwuani Federal Constituency of Delta State have rejected the proposed inclusion of the area in the proposed Anioma State.
This is contained in a communiqué issued after a meeting in Ashaka, headquarters of Ndokwa East Local Government Area. The leaders stated that their people belong to the South South geopolitical zone and not the South East as proposed in Senator Ned Nwoko’s bill.
The communique which was signed by Dele Omenogor and Francis Idigbe, chairman and secretary respectively of ULNEF, restated the position of the Ndokwa Neku Union (NNU), stressing the desire to preserve its cultural and regional identity within the South South.
They called on Sen. Nwoko to withdraw the bill and urged federal authorities, including President Bola Tinubu to reject any attempt to incorporate Ndokwa into Anioma State.
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At an enlarged stakeholders’ forum in September held at the Grand Hotel, Asaba, representatives from the Ndokwa nation initially backed the creation of Anioma State, based on promises that the first governor will emerge from the Ndokwa nation.
An Ndokwa leader on condition of anonymity in an interview, attributed the new twist to political tensions which have since derailed the earlier consensus, accusing the state government of orchestrating the plot to undermine Sen. Nwoko’s efforts.
But the elders forum insists that only the NNU can represent the Ndokwa peoples’ interests, vowing to resist any external attempts to subsume their identity into Anioma State.
