In their reaction to the controversy, the South East governors have said the zone would give grass to herdsmen in an exchange for their meat.
The governors also said there was no land in any part of the South East region for the establishment of Ruga settlements.
Chairman of the South-East Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, who stated this through his Chief Press Secretary, Emmanuel Uzor, equally maintained that no part of the South East geopolitical zone that would be given out for the Ruga settlement proposed by the Federal Government.
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Governor Umahi was quoted as saying, “The way it works is that the herdsmen will bring down their cows to the South East and sell us as meat while they will load the grass which are grown here in the same trailer with which they transported their cows to feed their cattle in those grazing reserve which should be made comfortable for them.
“With this proposed deal, herdsmen are expected to embrace anti-open grazing by returning to the ranches in the north and do their business on the trade-by-barter basis of selling cows to the south and buying grass to feed their cows in the north.”