News Roundup
VP confident of success of proposed Niger Delta Summit
Jun 17, 2008, 16:47
| | The Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday June 17 insisted that the proposed Niger Delta summit would not be business as usual, noting that the conference would be a forum to give firm commitment to the item by item development needs of the region.
Dr. Jonathan stated this while addressing a delegation of members of the River State Truth and Reconciliation Commission, led by Justice Kayode Eso, in his office, at State House, Abuja.
According to him, “the Niger Delta Summit will achieve clear results. President Umar Yar’Adua is totally committed to bringing lasting peace to the region, hence, there will be a commitment on the part of the Federal Government and all recommendations at the Summit will be carried out to the letter.”
The Vice President gave the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring the safety of those who sought to testify before the Commission. He also pledged amnesty for those who as part of seeming agitation may have fallen foul of the law but are now willing to make amends.
He commended Governor Rotimi Amechi for setting up the Commission, noting, “as a former Speaker in the last administration and now a sitting governor, it must have taken courage to set up this Commission. This shows a great commitment on the part of the Governor to see to the end of the crisis in Rivers State.”
Earlier Justice Eso said the Commission moved to the Federal Capital, Abuja, in continuation of its sitting “to take evidence of some of the people who have expressed concerns for their safety.”
While promising not to fail the nation in the present undertaking, Justice Eso said the Commission was in the process of making arrangements’ to interview and take evidence of activists, stating “we have seen signs that they will respond to the Commissions’ efforts, but they also have expressed reservations about their safety.” He therefore called on the federal government to support the Rivers State government in ensuring a smooth passage to and fro the exercise for the activists.
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