IHEANACHO NWOSU, Abiodun Adelaja, Abuja and DENNIS NAKU, Yenagoa

He said the statement was not just an attack on Gov Odili but a derision of the people of South South geo-political zone who he said are happy with the achievements of the governor and other leaders of the zone.

Prof. David-West had in an interview with a newspaper (not Daily Champion) declared that Gov. Odili has some disabilities which disqualify him from being considered as a good presidential material.

The position of the professor of Virology, however, sharply contradicts the submissions of many indigenes of South South who mention the governor’s name as the zone’s candidate.

It is based on the views that Gov Odili is the most popular politician in the zone that he is being touted as the likely candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) if the party zones the ticket to South South.

Reacting to Prof. David-West’s comment, Amb. Mbu told Daily Champion that it was unfortunate that the former minister could be holding a contrary opinion on Odili, different from how other Nigerians perceive him.

"I am disappointed that such words came from David-West", he said. Even if there are differences existing between him and the governor, he ought to apply maturity and etiquette in his utterances," he added.

Amb Mbu who is the chairman, Board of Trustees of South South Peoples Assembly (SSPA) and head of the zone’s presidential search team, said Odili, like other governors in the zone have done well in the last seven years.

"You and I know that Gov. Odili has done very well. He has qualities which we are all looking for," he said.

He stressed that South South would not be distracted by unguarded comments from any quarter, saying that the statement credited to David-West was merely his own opinion.

Mbu called on the people of the zone to unite and speak with one voice, insisting that speaking individualistically would scuttle the zone’s ambition as was the case in the past.

Meanwhile, a group of traders in the northern states under the aegis of Arewa Amalgamated Traders Association (AATA) Monday endorsed the presidential ambition of Rivers State governor Dr. Odili insisting that only South South presidency would bring enduring peace to the lingering Niger Delta crisis.

In a 10-point resolution reached at the end of its meeting in Abuja, AATA said there was need to elect a president who would bring enduring peace to the crisis-ridden Niger Delta region.

"Our endorsement was borne out of the fact that it is only a South South presidency as represented by Dr. Peter Odili that can put to an end to the lingering Niger Delta crisis.

"Besides this is a Nigerian who is a bridge builder considering his acquaintances which cut across all nooks and crannies of Nigeria", AATA noted in a statement jointly signed by Alhaji Mohammed Ali, Alhaji Abdullahi Sarki Jos and Alhaji Mohammed Wambai.

The group advised Nigerians to ensure election of "a pan-Nigerian like Odili who has all it takes to lead this country while issues like ethnicity and religion should be discountenanced.

According to the group, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) can only ensure victory at the 2007 polls if it fields a detribalised Nigerian from the South South zone to run for the presidency.

Meanwhile, leadership of the South South Peoples Forum (SSPF) has urged politicians from the south not to accept to be running mate to any individual from other geo-political zones, saying " our position to retain the presidency in the South in 2007 obliges us to be second to none."

Rising from an executive committee meeting in Yenagoa, the forum issued a six point communique calling on southern political leaders to brace up to the challenge by not allowing themselves to be in a subordinate position to politicians from other parts of the country.

Briefing journalists, chairman of the forum, Ambassador Matthew Mbu appealed to the presidency and the security services to as a matter of urgency to provide adequate security to presidential aspirants of the South irrespective of their political platform; just as he prayed that nothing should happen to them during their campaigns.

He recalled that the North presided over this country for 35 years out of nearly 46 years of nationhood, " it is therefore not justifiable and conceivable for the same North to ask for a return of the rulership when the South has barely held the reign of power for 11 years.

The chairman however, pointed out that only through dialogue rather than sentiments, can the people of the South actualise the president of their dream.

Mbu noted that for justice, fairness and equity and to give a sence of belonging to all Nigerians all registered political parties in the country should borrow a leaf from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alliance for Democracy (AD) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) who in 1999 zoned their presidential tickets to the South West.

Said he, " we therefore call on all the registered political parties to search for their presidential candidates from the South- South or South- East geo-political zone in 2007," even as the forum lauds the reform programmes of President Obasanjo and hoped that he would bequeath a lasting legacy to Nigeria by ensuring that the 2007 elections are free and fair so as to usher in a credible successor who would continue with the implementation of the reforms.

The communique re-affirmed the forum’s resolve as conveyed at the Enugu conference of Southern leaders on December 19 last year, that the presidency of the country must remain in the South in 2007, adding that the position was non-negotiable.

It appealed to youths in the Niger Delta to sheath their swords, while the authorities and patriotic Nigerians engage in the search for lasting and permanent solution to the problems of the region in the interest of peace.

Igbo political leaders at the recent Political Summit entitled Ahanefula held in Owerri, Imo State stated emphatically that the South East will not accept Vice President slot in 2007.

The conference which was attended by the zone’s prominent leaders including Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Gov Achuke Udenwa, Commodore Ebitu Ukuwe, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, threated to sanction any Igbo politician that postures for the number two position.

The position of the leaders which who captured in a nine point communiqué stated that there was no compromise on producing the 2007 presidency.