PANDEF Urges Tinubu to Honour Late IGP Solomon Arase, Demands Fix of Niger Delta Roads & Ports

The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), the foremost socio-political group of the South-South region, has called on President Bola Tinubu to immortalise the late Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Ehigiator Arase, by naming a major national monument after him.

Arase, Nigeria’s 18th indigenous IGP, who passed away at the age of 69 in August, was praised by PANDEF for his “invaluable contributions to national unity and development.”

In a communiqué issued after its enlarged National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Benin City, Edo State, and signed by National Chairman Ambassador Godknows Igali, Edo State Chairman Prof. Alfred Ehigiegba, and National Publicity Secretary Chief Obiuwevbi Ominimini, PANDEF stressed that Arase deserved to be remembered for his service to the nation.

The forum also urged the federal government to address the “worsening infrastructure decay” in the Niger Delta, decrying the deplorable state of key federal roads such as the East-West Road, the Benin-Auchi Road, the Benin-Warri section, and the Calabar-Itu Road.

“PANDEF decries the unfortunate abandonment of the only railway line leading from Ujevwu, Delta State, to Itakpe in Kogi State, while similar projects, such as the Abuja-Kaduna line, were promptly fixed, as if the Niger Delta does not matter,” the communiqué read.

The group further demanded the urgent restoration of seaports across the South-South — in Calabar, Port Harcourt, Warri, Sapele, Burutu, and Koko — to boost economic activity and raise per capita income in the region.

While thanking President Tinubu, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and other leaders for safeguarding democratic institutions in Rivers State, PANDEF insisted that honoring Arase and revitalizing Niger Delta infrastructure were crucial steps towards national equity and development.

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