The Southern Kaduna Peoples’ Union (SOKAPU) has expressed its readiness to end the protracted leadership crisis rocking the region, declaring its willingness to embrace dialogue and pursue an out-of-court settlement with other Southern Kaduna groups in the interest of peace and unity.
The national president of SOKAPU, Tabara Samuel Kato, made the declaration in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja yesterday.
The statement contained his address at a reconciliation meeting convened by the Southern Kaduna Elders Consultative Forum (SKECF) in Kafanchan.
Kato said the intervention of the elders, led by the chairman of SKECF, Gen. Zamani Lekwot (rtd), offered a fresh opportunity to resolve the lingering disagreements between SOKAPU and the Southern Kaduna Leadership Council (SKLC), the Southern Kaduna Christian Leaders Association (SKCLA), SOKACDA (CDAs Forum), and the organisers of SKFEST.
According to him, while the disagreements centred on organisational mandates, logo representation and event hosting rights, none of the issues should be allowed to undermine the unity and collective aspirations of the Southern Kaduna people.
He said SOKAPU was prepared to bury the hatchet and engage all aggrieved groups in sincere discussions aimed at restoring trust and defining clear operational boundaries.
“On behalf of SOKAPU, I declare our absolute readiness to bury the hatchet. We are willing to explore an amicable, out-of-court settlement of all pending legal matters and sit at a round table with SKFEST, the CDAs Forum and all aggrieved bodies for the benefit of our grassroots communities,” he said.
Kato, however, defended his decision to revoke an earlier peace agreement, alleging that it was executed in bad faith and designed to weaken SOKAPU through what he described as an attempt to replace the organisation with the SKFEST Initiative.
He claimed that the agreement would have plunged the association into a constitutional crisis and rendered it ineffective, insisting that his action was taken to safeguard the integrity of SOKAPU.
The SOKAPU president also maintained that the association remained the legitimate umbrella body of the Southern Kaduna people, arguing that SKFEST was originally conceived as a SOKAPU project and should operate under the union’s platform.
He further described SOKACDA as a duplicate organisation subordinate to SOKAPU, while insisting that the Southern Kaduna Leadership Council should remain a complementary body rather than exercise executive authority over the people.
Kato urged members of all Southern Kaduna organisations to refrain from inflammatory public statements capable of deepening divisions, stressing that unity was critical to addressing the security and development challenges confronting the region.
He thanked the Southern Kaduna Elders Consultative Forum, traditional rulers and Christian leaders for their efforts to restore harmony, expressing optimism that genuine dialogue would lead to lasting reconciliation.
“Our region is passing through a critical juncture. These divisions only serve to weaken our collective voice and expose our communities to vulnerabilities we can ill-afford. Together, we can redirect our energy towards the development, security and empowerment of our people,” he said.